Panel 1: Well, I don't remember speculation ever getting this far before. I'd say that's a good sign. However, Elly's agenda sounds like the kind of stuff people always SAY they'll do when they get a large block of time...and then they end up mostly just watching TV.
Panel 2: Ooh, is that a note of sarcasm in John's voice?
Panel 3: Or is he trying to corner her into admitting that retirement would be boring? I can kind of see his point, but not really, because if Elly really DID all those things she's talking about, it would take a long time before she'd run out of stuff to do. There are stages in life, and being in the contemplative stage doesn't HAVE to mean being idle and cranky like Grampa Jim.
Panel 4: Ah, so that is what he was getting at: witness the Smug, Closed-Eye Patterson Look. Anyway, I disagree. Retiremnet would not mean Elly would have to give up being a professional buttinski.
Panel 5: Exactly what many people here have been suggesting! Think Lynn'll go for it?
The thing is, though, Elly and John have switched sides on this issue since the first time they discussed retirement, back in 2003. http://www.fborfw.com/strip_fix/archives/000422.php (Click for the next three strips.) I don't really get the last panel of that first linked strip, but the sequence comes down to John suggesting they scale back on their responsibilities, and Elly saying, "No, I'd die of boredom." More of that Laurel and Hardy routine howtheduck referenced, I guess.