Through a Glass, Darkly

ALARM: *beep, beep, beep*

KARI: What day is it?

MIKE: Uhhhhh, I don’t know? Friday? Friday.

KARI: I overslept.

MIKE: We got in bed earlier than we have been, and we still didn’t get enough sleep if you have to ask what day of the week it is.

KARI: I was really hoping it was Saturday.

MIKE: I know.

—

All right, I just thought that was funny, and a good snapshot of how our week has been. But it’s not what I’m going to talk about. I’m going to talk about these rules that Mike keeps making for our lives. Rules like, “You can’t count down to the season premiere of Gilmore Girls until two weeks before it starts.” My coworkers said, “You know, that’s kind of arbitrary of him.” So I counted down to them instead. They may have regretted taking my side in that particular discussion.

The latest rule is, “No soup until October 1.” Now, I could eat soup any time of the year, but Mike believes that we should not be eating soup until October 1. This morning when I woke up, it was nice and cool outside. Good thing, because if it wasn’t starting to be fall before October 1, the Arbitrary Rule King would probably have said that we still had to wait for some soup. One of my coworkers says that her husband has the same rule, and that this morning he said, “You know, some soup would be great this weekend!” We’re thinking of forming a Spouses of Arbitrary Soup Rule Makers support group. And there’s a restaurant I enjoy that has a rule about soup: something like, “No soup until the first frost.” They have missed out on some soup purchases from me, is all I’m saying.

But, finally finally, tomorrow is October 1. And I am planning on making soup on Sunday afternoon. This time of year, after the long soup ban, I love making soup after church and letting it simmer all day, filling the house with wonderful smells. I can’t wait.