This and that

Uncle Jim, Cooper, Jim and Katie on Christmas Eve:
That Cooper smirk is so much a Steve smirk.

***

A couple of Saturdays ago the kids and I met up with friends for breakfast.

Katie ordered Nutella crepes. She was particularly excited about the Nutella and used her fork to dig out the hazelnutty-chocolately goodness from the folds of the crepe.

I told her that the first time I had Nutella was in 1999 in Germany. It was more difficult to find in the United States then, and Steve was excited to have it again, many years after he was an exchange student there.

Our fourth-grade friend Luke, known for his honesty, was listening. And then he said something like, "Why don't you get yourself a new husband? It must be hard raising all these kids by yourself. And it must be depressing for them to have no dad."

I laughed (mostly because he said "all these kids" as if I were the Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe) and made a joke about picking up a random husband off the street. (Which I totally do not plan on doing.)

Cooper made a joke, too. I'm not sure what Katie thought.

Luke's mom, Jenny, to her credit, did not spit out her food or anything like that.

***

Our wedding included four female attendants: Melissa, Jayshree, Karen and Swati. (All friends of mine since eighth or ninth grade.) The final bachelorette of the group, Swati, was married this weekend.

Karen and I sat together during the ceremony, and we talked about how we wished Steve could have been there. He loved Swati and no doubt would have loved Paolo as well.

Congratulations, Paolo & Swati!