Some Iraq Veteran

So I turned 40 this year, which is … aggravating, but not really the point of this story.  I was sitting at lunch the other day with my wife and eight year-old son who kept singing “Lordy, Lordy, my dad turned 40,” when my wife commented that she would soon be 40 as well.  My son gets a confused look on his face, looks up at me and says: “I thought you told me women age faster than men?”

Needless to say that comment was not well received.  Hopefully my Christmas gift will get me out of the doghouse – we’ll see.

Christmas.  I hate to sound like Scrooge, but this is the most stressful time of the year for me.  There is so much to do, so many family gatherings, too much time off of work, etc.  I just can’t stand the time leading up to Christmas Day.  But I love Christmas morning, always have.  Like many married couples with family close by we have to split the day between both our families (it was a royal pain in the arse those years my divorced parents refused to speak or gather together).  My wife has a very normal family, for the most part, and we do breakfast at their house on Christmas morning.

Christmas afternoon is reserved for my family, who quite honestly are not normal and are responsible for about half the stress I endure this time of year.  How much do I dislike the Dacker family gathering?  Well, on Christmas Day 2005 I was leading a small group of Soldiers on a mission in Iraq that involved having to fly - I am scared shitless of heights - and I think I’d rather be doing that again.  I got out of Thanksgiving by taking my wife and son to the Smokey Mountains, but no can do for Christmas.

Work, work, work lately, but I’ve found a little time for fun.  We went to see the movie “2012″ today and we enjoyed it.  My son really liked it, but there were some parts he found a little scary, and there is one “F” bomb uttered.  This movie is not a thinking person’s flick, it’s a series of special FX shots strung together.  It’s long but just never lets up.  It’s corny, silly, cliche-ridden, and will make your eyes bleed, but we enjoyed it.  If you like movies that take you on a ride then this is worth the price of admission.  In fact, I don’t think it would be a very good rental unless you have a theatre-sized screen in your home and and the same kind of sound system – it pretty much has to be seen in the theatre.

Besides movies I’ve been playing those computer games I told you about (Modern Warfare 2 and Dragon Age).  I also started playing Dungeons & Dragons Online again.  If anyone plays I’m on the Argonnessen server as “Dacker Dondago.”  If you’re into D&D it’s pretty fun, but just like with the pen-and-paper game it does require some research before you begin if you want to get the most out of it.

Well, that’s all for today folks, cheers!.

-Dacker

*Edit: I misspelled my freakin’ name!