What REALLY was going on during the insane wedding-o-rama of 2008 July...
AKA an exercise in salvaging the Foobs (start through August 26)
AKA what happens when real life is allowed to intrude on the Foobs
Sunday, March 1, 2009
brief hiatus
Well, I thought after last week, I'd be on a nice little break, but I'm off to visit a new niece. A brief intro to the next bit: (so brief, I don't have the chance to get to the computer with GIMP update: GIMPed and re-uploaded). ETA for more: end of the week / weekend
Well, nobody ever said living with an addict was easy, did they? Too bad for John he didn't see Elly's housework habit for what it was; he'd have saved himself a lot of grief if he'd twigged to her jonesing for a sheet-shaving fix.
Ok, a moment of pity for Elly here: It has to be tough, sitting around the house, not even being able to do the homemaker thing that's essentially been here life. Crazy or not, she's gotta do something with her time. This'll be even more of an uphill battle than expected.
I have to agree with Thomas. It must be hard, when you spend 20+ years being a housewife who cleans all the time to suddenly have to leave housework to your husband. A> there is the trust issue of will Hubby do it right *heh* and B> there is the boredom issue of "What will I do with my time now?" Poor thing. Now she has to find something to do with her time. Maybe psych and hubby needs to help her with the finding a club or group to join.
Well, Ellie COULD visit her father and Iris for companionship and activities. Maybe she could go to the "Stitch and Bitch" with Iris or play cards with her father.
All of which could atone for the many times she found them inconvenient.
It's different when YOU'RE the one who needs companionship and fun, isn't it?
Forgive me, it's Monday and I'm a tad cynical today.
Oh, I agree with all those suggestions too. I just don't think Elly knows how to find all those things, and will end up having to be taught how to do it.
Personally, I love how John's "Oh.....no...." and the lead up to it seem to have the same tone of "The floor.....oh....no....Elly's murdered the pets and painted the baseboards with their blood!"
Although, seriously, it is as serious as that on a certain level. Plus, I kinda get the feeling that no one in-strip's actually put any thought into what Elly is going to be doing in all the copious amounts of spare time she'll have, if she isn't doing housework all on her own any more.
She can't go to Lilliput's - she sold that (or at least, bowed out of running it). And, besides shopping (or window-shopping) and chatting with Connie, the woman has no hobbies that come to mind.
Sure, she tends the garden in the spring and summer - but that seems like one more "housework" chore; something she does to maintain the house's appearance, rather than because she enjoys it. And she certainly doesn't cook well (or at least, hasn't bothered to for years - hard to see why not, considering that no one seems to have appreciated it). And she's gotten far, far too used to putting off taking writing classes because she "doesn't have time".
I do feel sorry for Elly, though. Not only does she suddenly have to give up the habit of half a life time, she has no idea of what to do with the gapingly empty hours not doing the housework her way leaves - and she probably doesn't know how to go about filling those hours, either...asides from the same old way she always has, for the past twenty years.
If I were her doctor, I'd recommend she join a writing class, or take up a hobby of some sort - something relatively harmless that will encourage her to interact with others, and won't (hopefully) reinforce already-existing bad habits. There's got to be a knitting class or something, at the local community college, right?
First thing Elly should do, imo, is get herself to a spa and hire a personal shopper. Maybe she could go on What Not to Wear. She looks at least 75. She looked older than Iris when they were together. She isn't even 60 yet!
I don't agree, Clio. The last thing Elly should be encouraged to do is go do things that are going to reinforce her poor self-esteem and lousy mental image of herself.
Besides, that's a band-aid solution at best - something that'll only make things look a little better, until the next episode. And there's only so much shopping Elly can do to fill the time, without it becoming a new addition.
Going to a spa (for general pampering and paying attention to her body, not tanning and waxing and whatnot) and getting a nice haircut and wardrobe would boost Elly's self-image, not hurt it. Frumping around like she does cannot possibly be good for her. Everyone I've known who makes themselves look bad, as Elly is doing, has had some serious self-hatred going on. They feel they don't "deserve" to look nice. When they're shown they can look nice, there's often a big change in their attitude.
(so brief, I don't have the chance to get to the computer with GIMP update: GIMPed and re-uploaded). ETA for more: end of the week / weekend
10 comments:
Well, nobody ever said living with an addict was easy, did they? Too bad for John he didn't see Elly's housework habit for what it was; he'd have saved himself a lot of grief if he'd twigged to her jonesing for a sheet-shaving fix.
Ok, a moment of pity for Elly here:
It has to be tough, sitting around the house, not even being able to do the homemaker thing that's essentially been here life. Crazy or not, she's gotta do something with her time. This'll be even more of an uphill battle than expected.
I have to agree with Thomas. It must be hard, when you spend 20+ years being a housewife who cleans all the time to suddenly have to leave housework to your husband. A> there is the trust issue of will Hubby do it right *heh* and B> there is the boredom issue of "What will I do with my time now?" Poor thing. Now she has to find something to do with her time. Maybe psych and hubby needs to help her with the finding a club or group to join.
Well, Ellie COULD visit her father and Iris for companionship and activities. Maybe she could go to the "Stitch and Bitch" with Iris or play cards with her father.
All of which could atone for the many times she found them inconvenient.
It's different when YOU'RE the one who needs companionship and fun, isn't it?
Forgive me, it's Monday and I'm a tad cynical today.
She could be writing; fostering that amazing talent she "never has time for."
Oh, I agree with all those suggestions too. I just don't think Elly knows how to find all those things, and will end up having to be taught how to do it.
Personally, I love how John's "Oh.....no...." and the lead up to it seem to have the same tone of "The floor.....oh....no....Elly's murdered the pets and painted the baseboards with their blood!"
Although, seriously, it is as serious as that on a certain level.
Plus, I kinda get the feeling that no one in-strip's actually put any thought into what Elly is going to be doing in all the copious amounts of spare time she'll have, if she isn't doing housework all on her own any more.
She can't go to Lilliput's - she sold that (or at least, bowed out of running it). And, besides shopping (or window-shopping) and chatting with Connie, the woman has no hobbies that come to mind.
Sure, she tends the garden in the spring and summer - but that seems like one more "housework" chore; something she does to maintain the house's appearance, rather than because she enjoys it. And she certainly doesn't cook well (or at least, hasn't bothered to for years - hard to see why not, considering that no one seems to have appreciated it).
And she's gotten far, far too used to putting off taking writing classes because she "doesn't have time".
I do feel sorry for Elly, though. Not only does she suddenly have to give up the habit of half a life time, she has no idea of what to do with the gapingly empty hours not doing the housework her way leaves - and she probably doesn't know how to go about filling those hours, either...asides from the same old way she always has, for the past twenty years.
If I were her doctor, I'd recommend she join a writing class, or take up a hobby of some sort - something relatively harmless that will encourage her to interact with others, and won't (hopefully) reinforce already-existing bad habits. There's got to be a knitting class or something, at the local community college, right?
First thing Elly should do, imo, is get herself to a spa and hire a personal shopper. Maybe she could go on What Not to Wear. She looks at least 75. She looked older than Iris when they were together. She isn't even 60 yet!
I don't agree, Clio. The last thing Elly should be encouraged to do is go do things that are going to reinforce her poor self-esteem and lousy mental image of herself.
Besides, that's a band-aid solution at best - something that'll only make things look a little better, until the next episode. And there's only so much shopping Elly can do to fill the time, without it becoming a new addition.
Going to a spa (for general pampering and paying attention to her body, not tanning and waxing and whatnot) and getting a nice haircut and wardrobe would boost Elly's self-image, not hurt it. Frumping around like she does cannot possibly be good for her. Everyone I've known who makes themselves look bad, as Elly is doing, has had some serious self-hatred going on. They feel they don't "deserve" to look nice. When they're shown they can look nice, there's often a big change in their attitude.
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