The house is coming along nicely. We were supposed to be in for Christmas, but they are just hanging wallboard now. The landlord agreed to extend our rental terms for a normal rate. That was lucky, because she and Lou do not get along. In fact, she said that if she had met him instead of just me when I signed the lease agreement, she never would have rented to us. He feels the same way about her. The poor builder is screwed because when we signed the building contract with him, Lou included a late penalty clause.

Lou has been working diligently on task to try to find new clients. It’s made a big difference in his mood and attitude. He seems more upbeat and is always glad to report to me at the end of the day with the number of phone calls made and pieces of mail sent out to prospective clients. No client contracts yet, but he has some good leads, and I feel like he’s back on track.

My work is still really crazy busy. I go in early as often as I can, and when I can leave earlier, I beat the heavy traffic. Lou doesn’t mind getting Anjelica ready in the morning, so for the most part it works out. He had an issue with the school bus not stopping for some reason, and later got into a big argument over it with the driver. I wish I had been home instead when that happened. It is a short ride to school, and to me, the inconvenience of the car ride is not worth the risk of the driver having an attitude toward Anjelica on the bus.

We are not fighting as often, which is a relief. I don’t know if he is happier because his has direction with his work activities, because of the progress at the house, or because he found someone new online. Lou is not the least bit discrete with his new friend, Tanya, who has an open marriage, and is free to do as she pleases. They chat online or talk on the phone for hours on end. He’s like a pimply-faced horny adolescent; when she calls, he goes upstairs to our room, and I can hear him laughing and giggling on the phone behind the closed door. They get together, and he does not care that I know.

This is not how I thought we would be working on our marriage.