My New Love Affair and The Greatest Songs Ever

A follow up to my last post...Shannon spoke in church last Sunday. She did an outstanding job. The bishop got very brave and decided to ask all of the bishopric wives to speak. Bravery is subjective however. He was too afraid to ask his wife over the kitchen table, so he had Rhett and I come into his office with him while he asked his wife. I suppose a good old fashioned beat down would have been out of the question with witnesses right there. Anyway, they did such a good job that I can honestly say it was one of the best sacrament meetings I have ever been to. Plus I didn't have to use my one freebie that she promised me should I have trouble getting a speaker at some point.

So, after the last post where I brag about my wonderful wife, it is with sad heart that I admit the following. I haven't been completely faithful to her recently. A new object of my affections has emerged and I find myself making excuses to slip away and spend time with my new love. Now granted the excuses I find generally include me having to get something from Bashas' or making a dreaded Wal-Mart trip, but I am so madly in love that I have lost all sense of right and wrong. I mean voluntarily going to Wal-Mart? The madness must end!



I am speaking of course of our new family member. Not Buddy, but Silver. As in Silverado, Chevy Silverado. Silver joined our family three weeks ago and suddenly I find myself volunteering to go get Abby at gymnastics, "forgetting" to get dog food so I can make another trip to get more and other pathetic excuses for driving without a real need. The funny part is that I was told by Tommy Nicholas in my ward that my manly points went up by four just by getting a truck and getting out of my little Saturn (an aside...that Saturn has served us well for nine years and almost 140,000 miles. Getting a new vehicle was inevitable, but that car was awesome), but the funny thing is, I don't think I have hauled much in the back of my truck. I think I might lose some of those manly points if people knew that what I am enjoying most with this truck is playing with the XM radio that comes with it as well as the On-Star features. Basically, the truck is one big phone. When I set up On-Star on the way home from buying the truck, Braden was in the back seat. I think his little mind nearly exploded when he realized I could hold a conversation with someone through the speakers of the truck. I give Braden a hard time about being obsessed with technology but...I called Heath the other night without much cause...ok...no cause really, I just wanted to play with the phone calling features. I suppose this technology obsession might just be a family trait thing.



Of course no one is allowed to eat in it and only adults are allowed to drink beverages other than water in it. (I suppoooossse that Shannon's M&Ms don't count.) Shannon thinks I am obsessive. I know I am. And the point of is??? Shannon asked if she was going to get to drive it. I explained that was a silly question. It is OUR truck. Of course she could drive it a quarter mile down the road to see Melinda as long as she was back in ten minutes and signed a ten page liability statement stating that the family would forego basic necessities for a year to help pay for any damage that should come to the truck while she was driving it. If Shannon weren't such a refined lady, I think she would have shot me the finger as she grabbed the keys on her way out the door while stating, "I'll be back when I get back." (This story has been slightly embellished, but the spirit of the exchange is intact.)



Now since getting the truck, as mentioned, I have been enjoying a reconnecting with satellite radio. One thing I learned on XM the other day was that Jason Mraz's song "I'm Yours" just recently broke the record for the amount of time one song has lasted on the Billboard top 100. It has been there 70 weeks. The discussion went on about the greatest songs of all time. It made me think, what do I consider the greatest songs of all time. Well, I compiled a list of what I think are the 5 greatest songs ever. Now a couple of disclaimers. First, this list could easily change for me. I am sure someone could point out a song and I would go "Oh Yeah!!!", but at this point, these are the top. Second, this list is only contemporary popular type songs. Clearly the composition skills of the songwriters who wrote these songs don't compare with a Brahm or a Beethoven. Just wanted to be clear before someone commented that "How could you overlook The Hallelujah Chorus?" I didn't overlook it, I just didn't include that whole genre. Anyway, here are my choices:

5. Sad Songs (Say It So Much) - Elton John: When this song came out, it was my favorite. I still hear it and love it every time. I am really not a big Elton John fan, but this song strikes a chord with me that is somewhat timeless. That is a big consideration for me when it comes to this list. It is also the only Elton John song where I don't want to check to make sure my iPod isn't skipping when the song is winging down because Elton John doesn't know how to end a song. He just keeps repeating the same words over and over and over...you get the picture. That quality alone almost got this song bumped, but...

4. Always On My Mind - Willie Nelson: For the record, I hate Willie Nelson. That makes it really strange that of my top five greatest songs ever list, #5 and #4 would be by artists I don't really care for. However, this song is as heartfelt and true emotion song as I am aware of. This does not apply to the Pet Shop Boys version. I wish someone would remake this song with the same slow tempo and soul searching sound without the nasal quality that unfortunately comes with any Willie Nelson song.

3. Johnny B. Goode - Chuck Berry: The first great guitar rock song is still the best. If you think about it, all heavy metal, guitar driven country and guitar heavy pop artists got their inspiration from Chuck Berry. If you disagree, I would point you to the original Back To The Future...see, you can't really argue with it can you? This song still makes me want to get up and move. You can all rest easy that I don't get up and move as that would be highly embarrassing, but it still makes me want to. Thanks dad for the education on good rock music at an early age. I know my love of country disappoints you still, but I did listen somewhat.

2. You Can't Hurry Love - The Supremes: If you want a testament to this song's greatness, look at the fact that it has been remade many, many times and yet, to my knowledge, no one has really changed the song. They add their own vocal style, but the tempo, the instrumentation and the basic song sound almost exactly the same. It is hard to improve upon greatness.

1. When You Say Nothing At All - Any Version: When it first came out by Keith Whitley, it was a great song. Yet it seems that each remake only seems to get better. Alison Krauss slowed it down and it was incredible and then the guy who sang it for Notting Hill jazzed it up a bit and it was just as emotional. I love this song!!! One of my wife's favorite songs ever is "Endless Love" because she thinks the words are so romantic and that that is very important. I agree and think this song's words are even more effective while combined with an unbelievable tune.

So there they are. I dare you to argue with me. I realize that there are some notable songs that are not there. For instance, Yesterday by the Beatles is the most recorded song of all time. One problem. I hate the song Yesterday. Therefore, it couldn't make my list. Any song by Elvis. Well, I have been mentally scarred by the image of an older Elvis sweating profusely in a white jumpsuit while singing. I am sorry, I just can't get past that and therefore he is omitted. Anyone is more than welcome to tell me where I am wrong, but I reserve the right to have totally stupid arguments that may make no sense to anyone but me, but then I am the final arbitor so...I will win said arguments. For instance, Imagine by John Lennon. The words in theory are great, but it is totally unrealistic and he uses the phrase "no religion". Therefore...checking with the final arbitor...it is out. See how that works? I am going to see if I can get a show on XM and do a countdown based on this list. It certainly would be better than half the shows that exist on XM.

Talking Up My Better Half

I really like that poster above. It makes me laugh. But over the last couple of weeks, certain events have made me realize how much I want to be the one learning from mistakes and not be the one providing a clear path of what not to do for others who follow.

I am coming to a realization that what I have with Shannon is not necessarily the norm. I am truly blessed and lucky to have the wife I have and the relationship that we have. We enjoy being together. We enjoy visiting with each other. We are getting ready to pull a quick down and back to the temple tomorrow and I am looking forward to the time spent on the drive just getting to talk with Shannon without the constant, "Mom, mom, mom, I need a drink." or "Mom, mom, mom...ummmm how much longer do we have to be in the car?" I am not sure why three moms are needed or why everything must be said at a decible level that causes dogs in passing cars to look at us in horror, but apparently it is necessary. I have had great friends in my life. Jared, Brad, Eric and Brandon in high school. Chris, Gary, Spencer, Preston, Mike and Toby in College and Heath, Spencer, Danny, Phil and Rhett as an adult (among many others). I couldn't ask for better friends. But I have never had a better friend than Shannon. There have been times when I have struggled to see what my worth is in this world, but she has never doubted in me. Or at least if she has, she hides it incredibly well.

So today, even though it is not an anniversary, birthday, time honored day we both treasure or anything else special, I want to reflect on some of the best memories we have made over the last 13 and a 1/2 years together. For every one mentioned, there are probably 20 to 30 I have left out that are just as good, but it is a blog post, not a novel. Here goes:

-On our wedding night, we got to the hotel and were told because of our ages, we couldn't just pay the rate to stay in the room, but we actually had to have a $250 deposit. Neither one of us had a credit card nor did we have the cash on hand. So began the mad dash looking for a Bank One ATM. At that time, you couldn't hardly spit and not hit one, but not that night. We drove for several miles before we finally found one. Talk about taking a pressure filled evening and adding just that extra bit of stress. On a side note, we were in room 711. The double entendres regarding convenience stores were limitless. I could just imagine my friend Spencer Bigler having a field day with that.

-In our first apartment, we lived less than half a mile from an Olive Garden and ate there at least once a week. Those were awesome times. However, one night, my paycheck had not cleared through the bank and so my bank card was rejected. We scraped together whatever cash we could, but the best we could do was pay for our food with absolutely nothing left for the tip. Our waiter wasn't very good anyway, but we were so embarrassed, I don't think we went back for at least two weeks. He wasn't there when we returned and we never saw him again.

-The night Abby was born was awesome. So many memories including: Laying down to go to sleep and just as I hit that wonderful state of nirvana, Shannon shaking me awake saying, "I think my water just broke." Boy was that an understatement. Then we get to the hospital and the nurse poking her head around the corner and asking what we wanted. After telling her we were having a baby, she said, "What makes you so sure?" Then the patosin (sp?). We were both so exhausted that we would fall asleep until the next contraction hit and then she would wake up and be very mad at me if I wasn't fully alert and monitoring the contraction's progress. A couple of times she asked me if it was going down and caught me answering with my eyes closed. She was not appreciative.

-Bathroom stops on the way to Disneyland. These have been the source of some great memories that began with our 5 year anniversary trip to Disneyland and stopping in Quartzsite. Never a worse hole have we found than that first one. That was followed by the one with an inch of water on the floor with Abby, then the 95 mile an hour desparation drive to the road-side rest stop with Abby and then finally culminting with the bathroom that wasn't during the traffic jam on I-10. The less I say about that one, the better it will be for me later on. We hadn't had a good memory to rival those until our quest for a bathroom on the stretch from Yarnell, AZ to Quartzsite, AZ which we have chronicled on this site back in March. But it bears repeating that as my poor wife was dying in the passenger seat, we would actually pass a sign that says, "You are beyond Hope." True irony.

-My wife has had a few mishaps in our vehicles. One time, she ran into a six inch wide concrete post that was painted yellow. She didn't tell me about it because she knew I would be upset. The fatal flaw in her plan was when I noticed the bright yellow paint on the front bumper of our car. The idea of running into a concrete post and then not telling me about it? Yeah, that didn't make me upset at all. I have to hand it to her though. She held the gloating to a minimum the night we pulled into our garage and I thought my foot was on the brake but instead it was actually the gas and I tapped it and sent our van right through the wall of our garage. The one thing she couldn't hold back saying though was, "I am so glad it was you finally."

-I have said it before, but I will never be able to fully thank her for all she did with the year of my mother's illness and then her passing.

Now we are in a new stage of life and she continues to amaze me. For the last three months, Shannon has had to take on more than her share of the responsibilities around the house. I am sure there are some weeks she feels almost like a single mother. I feel bad about that. We used to work together to get the kids ready for church and now that falls mainly to her. She has to keep track of them all by herself in church because the evil eye from dad only works part of the time and that is only if you can get the kids to look at you in the first place. I love her. I am amazed by her. And I am looking forward to seeing where our lives go from here. But I am certain of one thing. Wherever my life goes, it will only be at its best when she is there with me.