This is the time of year when I usually write about summer movie madness and my newfound love of action flicks. But the two movies I waited almost a year for have already been released, and naturally, the boys and I were sitting front and center for both of them.
I’m sure the summer will bring many movie opportunities for us, but I doubt any of them can compare to the action of "Terminator: Salvation" or "X-Men Origins: Wolverine." And it takes non-stop action these days for me to enjoy the escape from reality that can be found in a cool, dark movie theater.
I think the reason for this is because my life at home is so action-packed that most of the stuff produced by Hollywood is dull by comparison!
This column will tell the story of Ron, Arnold and me, and like all blockbusters, will require a sequel.
The story begins 25 years ago with the release of the original "Terminator" movie.
I was a senior in high school and Ron was already a Marine, dating his way around the world in the name of protecting our nation’s freedom. Arnold was a former bodybuilder and B-movie actor, born in Austria with a name no one could pronounce.
The three of us were living lives that in no way intersected.
I didn’t even bother to see the first "Terminator" movie until it came out on video.
Ron probably did, but was too busy snuggling up to some Norwegian cutie to pay much attention.
By the time "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" was released in the summer of 1991, Ron and I were newlyweds. The photos of him posing with European girls had long been destroyed by then.
Arnold was a household name, one of the few select stars that can be identified by first name only. The other big star of the movie was actress Linda Hamilton, whose well-toned biceps became the envy of women everywhere.
Instead of worrying about my figure that summer, I was more concerned with convincing my new hubby that we should start having babies soon.
My persistence paid off in a big way. We were a family of five when "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines" came out in the summer of 2003.
Ron and I had moved seven times in the dozen years that had passed since the second "Terminator" movie was released and, were living in the sunny city of San Diego.
A few months after the movie came out, something unexpected happened; that former bodybuilder with the confusing last name became the governor of California. Because I was so busy chasing Jimmy, Tommy and Ronnie around, I hadn’t stopped to pay much attention to what was going on with state politics.
In the fall of 2003, Arnold had earned a new one-work title, "Governator."
Lucky for me, it was our second year as Californians, and I was getting used to the surprising things that often happen on the West Coast.
The following spring, I did a foolish thing that makes me wonder if I had spent a little too much time under the California sun. When the third "Terminator" movie was released on DVD, I gave in to Jimmy’s constant whining and allowed him to watch it.
The movie was loaded with cursing.
Realizing the mistake I had made within minutes of playing the movie, I made the Jimmy promise not to say all the new words he had just heard.
The promise held until we went to visit my parents that summer; Jimmy just couldn’t resist showing off his newly expanded vocabulary to my relatives in North Carolina.
I hope you can wait until next week to see where this story goes next. Like the Terminator, I’ll be back.
A mother of three boys, Pam Zich has been married to a Marine for 18 years and currently lives in Springfield, Va. You may e-mail her at homefront@stripes.osd.mil or visit her Web site at www.lifeonthehomefront.com.
