Saturday, September 20, 2008

Surrounded by Strangers

On weekends, C. wears a cap around that his dad got free with the purchase of a chainsaw. Nice hat, I say. He is a changed man. You have to understand: I married a smoker who thought that a weekly indulgence in fettuccine alfredo was a God-given right. Today, less than a year later, he smells of soap and grilled chicken.

Fade to three nights ago: the middle eastern restaurant threw in some baklava with our hummus. Ooh, yum, honey, I said, and it dripped off my finger.
Him: Do you realize how fattening that is?

Me: Do you realize I'm seven months pregnant?

All in all, it's pretty amazing, but occasionally, I'm like, uhm, can we order Domino's and dip it in ranch dressing, and he's like, uhm, no.

Then, there's my dad who's lost 27 pounds in the past three months! Lots of Fiber One and running, he says. Last week, he ran his first 5K (and won his age division! placed 11th in the whole race!); today, he's entering a five miler. The man now has a compost pile and an electric car! This from a guy who ate Wendy's chili on his first day as a vegetarian.
They claim they're getting healthy for the baby; they wanna live forever, see her get married, see her kids kids have kids. Meanwhile I sit on the sidelines chomping on baklava and marveling at the kindness of these handsome strangers.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

congratulations,Dickie! Nicole, enjoy your pregnancy! You are beautiful and can eat all the baklava you want. When I was pregnant with you, the Greek manager at Weiner King brought me baklava to eat, ?reason for your sweetness. also, major congrats to Cody for quitting smoking and eating healthy.
Love
Mom

lindsey said...

I can't believe the thought of pizza and ranch dressing has ever even crossed your mind! I'm happily astounded.

kate lacroix said...

sadly, this email just confirmed that i will be eating dominoes pizza dipped in ranch dressing this evening.

Nicole Callihan said...

O Lindsey, if you had only known me in college! Or for that matter in my twenties! It took hitting thirty to turn me into such a culinary lame-o.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the kudos on my running and weight loss. Linda and I figured it would be nice to be as healthy as we can now that the grandkids are coming along. She was so pumped up by the race last week that now she's started running and did a run/walk at today's 5K. We hung a right on Interstate 26 instead of a left and bypassed the 5-miler, but our 5K today in Asheville was plenty challenging with 650 other runners. Neither of us placed but it was fun and we've got another one planned for next week.

Anonymous said...

Dick and Linda you are an inspiration. I am working my way up the fitness ladder, but don't worry that my marathon entry will keep you from participating. Nicole, I got a chuckle about the hat. It's just like him. One day he's wearing thousand dollar suits, then he's got a Stihl hat, black velour jammies and house shoes walking through Wal Mart like the King Of The World.
Mark

Anonymous said...

Congrats Nicole on the baby. I am so happy for you! Uncle Dickie and Aunt Linda have inspired me too. I walked approximate 1.7 miles today and feel great but that baklave sounds so good. Have a great week.
Love your cousin
Kristy