My Morning Cup #3

My wife and I awoke on Friday to our fifth year of marriage.  The morning of my wedding I woke up early and met my dad for breakfast, and got a shave.  I came back to my apartment and made some food for my buddies who were in town for the wedding.  

Five years later I awoke to my oldest son walking into our room and waking us up, he of course requested his usual "mini wheats" but my wife and I along with my younger son shared a lovely breakfast of eggs, toast and sausage, along with a nice hot cup of coffee.  

The night before our wedding my wife and I had a wonderful rehearsal of our "First Dance" we put on our first song "I've got the world on a string" sung by Frank Sinatra and came up with some basic moves to  cruise through the 2:15 song.

As I turned off the lights in our home as I was getting ready for bed the night before our anniversary, I stopped and decided, I should go put "I've got the world on a string" on our iPod in the kitchen so we could listen to it while we ate.  As I sat down, grabbed the iPod and pulled up the song, I decided I should really make a playlist for breakfast.  

I started with the easy first dance, but then it occurred to me I should make a playlist of the last 5 years.

Mrs. Robinson - Simon & Garfunkel

My wife is a whopping 7 years older than me, and a joke from just about the beggining is my wife is "Mrs. Robinson."  Age for us has never been an issue or even come up, we joke about our age differences and ultimately I think the difference in our years of life has given us a wonderful perspective with our friends all being at different stages of life.

Your Song - Elton John (Live Red Piano Concert)

I woke up Cristina one morning to two tickets to Las Vegas to see Elton John in concert.  We stayed at the Paris, had a nice dinner at the Grand Lux, and went to see "The Red Piano."

Time to Say Goodbye - Sarah Brightman and Andrea Bocelli

After the concert, I convinced Cristina to go for a walk in the cold.  I stopped in front of the Bellaggio Fountains and got down on one knee.  This song is actually a revisionist history, I had hoped this would be playing, but much more appropriately was Dick Van Dyke "Singin' in the Rain" as I proposed.

I've Got the World on a Sting - Frank Sinatra

Right as we walked into our reception, we started the night off with our first dance, and the rest of the reception just flew by us, to date EASILY the quickest reception I have ever been to, and I have never had a better time at a wedding.

Walking out for our first dance

Margaritaville - Jimmy Buffett

We honeymooned in Fiji, and took our iPod with us.  On our second stop of our honeymoon we listened to this CD more times than I can count.  I immediately relax when I hear this song, it takes me straight back to the island.

Our Honeymoon

Scenes From An Italian Restaurant - Billy Joel

Another CD Cristina introduced me to, we listned to this song all through our dating, and still do.  A few years ago we went to a show where all Billy Joel songs were used for essentially a Rock Ballet, Movin' Out.  A fun memory we shared with great friends.

Total Eclipse Of the Heart - Bonnie Tyler

About a year and half into our marriage we went with some friends to Catalina.  One night on the island, my pregnant wife and I sang an incredible rendition of this classic tune.  To date this is easily in my top 10 of greatest dates ever with my wife.

Come Out Ye Black & Tans - The Wolfe Tones

For our one year anniversary, Cristina and I went to Ireland.  We visited my mom, drove through the country, and for our one year anniversary went to the oldest licensed whiskey distillery in the world.  We visited my wife's old family grave and watched the world cup final in a beautiful little village in the north.  A lesson we learned on that trip is parades and other countries traditions does not mean you want to be there.  On July 12th the English with the help of the protestants in the country scored a major victory over the Irish people.  This would be the equivalent to the 4th of July here, only in the north about half the people hate this holiday, and in the south it is not even recognized.  My wife and I were in Belfast looking for B&B, but a lot of people leave during "Marching Season."  Through out the city in the protestant sections are giant wooden towers people intend on lighting on fire the day of the marching.  It was a very uncomfortable time to be in the north, we ended up changing our trip around and heading back to the south before we had to watch these wood towers go up in flames.

Our First Anniversary

Another Day - Rent (Original Broadway Cast)
As a teen I really enjoyed this show, and while Cristina and I were dating she bought tickets for us to see this on one of my birthdays, it was her first time seeing the show.  Within a very short time we ended up seeing La Boheme, the Baz Larman version, the show Rent was based off of.  This song was a no brainer for the CD, iTunes shows my lovely wife has listened to it nearly 50 times, no other Rent song even has 20 listens.

I Am...I Said - Neil Diamond
Early in our marriage we went with some friends to a Neil Diamond Tribute Concert at the Hollywood bowl.  This is still easily one of the best shows we have ever seen at the bowl.

Super Trouper - Abba
That same show turned out to have an Abba tribute band as the main  act.   Our friend's husband and I were looking around the bowl, and all the straight men must have left after Super Diamond, because all we saw were woman and gay men going nuts for a bunch of songs I have never heard, save for Dancing Queen.

Do You Hear The People Sing - Les Miserables (Original Broadway Cast)
As a newly married couple with duel income and no kids this is yet another show we saw.  A blast for us.  Years later though with 2 kids and a reduced income, and not much free time, we Netflixed the concert DVD and sat with nice cups of coffee and "went" to this show again.

Suddenly Seymour - Little Shop of Horrors (Broadway Cast Recording)
A theme you will notice, pre-children we went and got rushes to this show.  My wife actually went again with her sister and their kids she loved it so much.  Two Christmases ago, we had just purchased our mini-van and decided it would be fun to drive around and look at Christmas lights as we drank hot chocolate.  Drew sat in the back an awe of the lights in Hastings Ranch, Sean was quite a bit younger, but I don't think he fell asleep, and as we played with Cristina's new XM satellite radio we got to listen to the complete show of Little Shop, a fun way to "see a new show" for us.

Girls on Film - Duran Duran
We were just married and not yet pregnant with our first when some friends invited us to see Duran Duran at Staples Center.  The night was a blast as we partied in a luxury suite.  Our friends we saw so many of the above shows had canceled, she was having a baby, and they gave us the fancy suite tickets.  Our friend either went into labor that night or soon after.  After the show, someone in our suite had a little too much fun at the concert, and I tried as hard to convince her to walk, so the Staples staff wouldn't call an ambulance on her (she was a little drunk).

Don't Stop Believin' - Glee Cast Version
For the last two seasons the Dodgers blare Journey's hit over the sound system, and we have had season tickets for 4 years now.  We have gone to countless games, and Drew now loves this song.  When Glee did a version of this my wife had to buy it and played it endlessly.  I remember one day Drew and I with Cristina running through the house singing at the top of our lungs DON'T STOP BELIEVING.

They Live in You - The Lion King (Original Broadway Cast)
We love musical theater as you can tell, and wanting to really share this with our kids, this past spring we took Drew to his first one. We planned for a matinee and asked one of our dearest friends who loves the show to come with us.  It was a hit and currently DJ Cristina is asked to put this on in the car everyday.

Drew's First Show

Ants Marching - Dave Matthews Band
This song is also Dave's end of the concert song, and it seemed fitting to make it the last song of the playlist.  For Cristina's birthday one year we went to this concert, the only full on outdoor stadium concert we have been to.

As I finished this CD the night before our anniversary I looked over the songs and realized, man we really love musical theater, but also realized how our lives have changed, but we have adapted to keep "seeing" shows even with very young children.

The morning of our anniversary we sat down for breakfast and when the kids were done, we were going to pause the CD and just finish later.  I decided we were having too much fun, I went into the living room and turned on the Netflix instant watch for the kids.  Cristina and I reminisced about the last 5 years over a nice cup of coffee and a fun soundtrack to inspire conversation.

Life of a cup of coffee, Black (Trader Joe's Organic Fair Trade Sumatra)