Valentine's Mixtape Vol. III - When KG Met Wheels

First off, my apologies for leaving you all hanging this week. I had some other great ideas for mixtapes but life is busy and sometimes doesn't work out how you wish it would. Oh well, there is always next year or perhaps I'll share some mixtape fun when my anniversary draws near.

So this is the mixtape that I have been making in my head all week. In fact, it's quite late and Wheels is already asleep in bed but at least she'll have this little surprise when she wakes up in the morning. I have added and removed about 20 songs from this little mixtape. Here is exactly how I feel right about now:



I made a mixtape for Wheels when we were dating. I was driving out to visit her over Christmas break at her family's home in NV and we were then going to road trip to St. George to spend a few days with my family. I figured a nice mixtape was in order. I honestly feel like that little trip sealed the deal for both of us and my stupid little mixtape entitled Now That's What I Call Cheese Vol I. was the sunshine that nurtured our little love fern. (That last sentence was entitled Now That's What I Call Cheese Vol. II - sorry it's late and my brain isn't as sharp as it might be...)

So without further ado I present to Wheels and the World - Now That's What I Call Cheese Vol. III.

Yo La Tengo - Our Way to Fall
This little number was on Vol I. I apologize for the redunancy (there will be a few more) but this song best captures the first time I saw Wheels. I was working at a company with a friend and we were hiring for customer service positions. As I sat in my office on a hot July morning, I saw an even hotter girl walk past my door looking semi-lost. I made a beeline for the hallway and introduced myself and asked what I could do to help this maiden in distress. She was there for an interview and perhaps seeing my interest, my friend hired her and she started working about 30 minutes later, much to my pleasure.



White Stripes - I Can Tell That We Are Gonna Be Friends
Every Friday at the office we had a little company meeting and would introduce the new workers, etc and I learned that Wheels was attending BYU studying film. So she was hot and she was a film student. I had hit the jackpot. However, probably because of the fact that I was a big wuss and also recovering from a kidney stone it took a little while until Wheels and I had an actual conversation. One day I walked around the corner to use the copy machine and to my surprise (I was truly surprised, I wasn't stalking or hadn't planned it) there was Wheels making some copies. We had a little chat about movies - our favorites, what we had recently seen and shortly thereafter we were spending the entire day chatting on instant messenger about movies and life in general. I knew from the beginning that we had a similar sense of humor and I looked forward to our daily chats with great enthusiasm.



Tom Waits - I Hope That I Don't Fall In Love With You
Wheels may or may not have known that in the customer service area I had a spy. Nick, the brother of Herms, was my buddy and knew that I had some interest in Wheels. Nick informed me that Wheels was actually involved with a gentleman (I use the term loosely) and so being the class act that I am I figured I shouldn't be trying to still another guy's lady.

(Note - this was the best version on youtube that I could find of this song. The video contains a second song that although is a fine song is not included on NTIWICC III.)



Michael Jackson featuring Paul McCartney - The Girls Is Mine
Wheels and I continued to develop our friendship and like Miyagi and Daniel in that Karate Kid clip that I posted a few days ago, the tension was nearing its boiling point. I figured, screw that stupid guy, Wheels was meant for me. So I did what any normal person would do - I left my stupid work Halloween party (that she had failed to attend), took the company Porsche and went to visit Wheels while dressed as Scooby Doo. She loved it. At this point I must give thanks to Big Al for the use of said Scooby costume (that costume has been so lucky that it deserves its own column some day) and to Nick for coming along dressed as Space Travelin' Man, hands down the worst costume ever made - low on quality craftsmanship but big on laughs.

Fun Fact - I also chose this song because Wheels was a huge MJ freak in her day.



Neil Diamond - Hello Again
I don't think I need to discuss the significance of Neil and our relationship. I have already blogged about this in depth. For the Skog Blog newcomers, Wheels and I finally had our first date on November 1, 2001 when we attended the Neil Diamond concert at the e-Center. This song also reminds me of the many times I had to call Wheels at 2 AM after driving home from Provo to Sandy in a blizzard to let her know I arrived safely (this was pre-text messaging so back off you youngsters...)



Ben Folds - The Luckiest
Well I am pleased to say that our little tale this evening has a happy ending. Wheels dumped the DB she was dating and just like the Rumble in the film Anchorman, things escalated quickly and Wheels and I were never apart after that concert. I would hope that most couples have their 'song.' I don't think Wheels and I have ever specifically said, "Hey Luckiest is our song..." but I am certain that if we were ever on a gameshow that required us to declare our favorite song and match up our answers - this would be it.

I love you Wheels. Happy Valentine's Day. You're my best friend, a fantastic mother and the love of my life. Like Mr. Folds and Mr. Gehrig, I truly am the luckiest man on the face of the Earth - (dang it there goes Cheese Vol IV.)

KG