Lesson 173: Gold Medalist, Tim McGraw Song #1

Eloise's Concert Countdown 

Number One Favorite Song

The Cowboy In Me

Today is a big day for me, Readers.  Brothers of the Sun Concert Tour begins in eight hours in a city two hours away from the Lamp Post.  I'll still be scrambling around at the last minute when my friend comes to pick me up in a little while.  No matter how many hours, days, weeks, and years I have to plan something, I still run around at the last minute, yelling orders to my offspring, attempting to finish the last details.  I don't know why I act the way I do.  Like I ain't got a single thing to lose.  Sometimes I'm my own worst enemy.  I guess that's just the cowboy in me.


There is a little cowboy(girl) in this Hometown Teacher, Mother of Three, Keeper of the Lamp Post.  I got a life that most would love to have....   That is why I chose Tim McGraw's Cowboy in me for my Number One, All Time Favorite, Gold Medalist, Eloise Concert Countdown Chart Topper.  Isn't there a little cowboy in all of us?

A little about the song itself:  The Cowboy in Me was the third release from McGraw's Set Down This Circus album in 2001. I love the song itself and the lyrics, but the numbers that link to it are really cool too, yet they had no bearing whatsoever on me choosing this song.

First, I could have told you that the song would be a hit since it was the third release from that album.  Eloise likes her number 3's.  The third is always the charm, Right?   Look at its stats on the top Country Music charts:

Chart (2001-2002)	Peak position
US Country Songs (Billboard)[2]	1
US Billboard Hot 100[3]	33

It only reached the thirty-third position on the US Billboard Hot 100, but that is a good number, too.  Horses and the number 33 reminds me of my Friday night drink:



Here is another fun little extra credit assignment for you.  Go to google, today's source to finding answers, and click on images.  Type in the box "33 Rolling Rock bottle".  Scroll down a little bit and my photo pops up!  I put it on my blog last year (without tags), and it still can be found.  Crazy!



The time period when The Cowboy in Me was climbing the charts was the winter of 2002.  I remember that snowy winter well when my girls were little and I was neck deep in my stint as a Stay At Home Mommy.  I listened to the radio a lot because we were down to one income an we couldn't afford to do much but stay home and play with each other.  Music helped pass the time.

Tim McGraw was celebrating much success during that time period.  He was surely blessed because two of his songs were back to back Number Ones.  Look when The Cowboy in Me reached its Number One status--on March 16th---3:16.



Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks
number-one single
March 16, 2002

Its Number One predecessor  a week prior to that was one McGraw sang back up vocals for.  He and  Jo Dee Messina blended voices in Bring on the Rain, which reached the top of the chart on my birthday which is March 3rd, 3-3---some more threes for you. 

Preceded by "Good Morning Beautiful" by Steve Holy

Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks number-one single March 9, 2002

You can see that Bring on the Rain was preceded by Good Morning Beautiful by Steve Holy.  How nice would it be for someone to greet you with Good Morning Beautiful every day of your life?  Especially if your last name was Holy.  Oh his lucky wife!   Eloise is not too pretty to look at in the morning, so the absence of sunrise flattery is understandable.  I'll just play the song and never expect to hear the words spoken.  The face that's in the mirror when I don't like what I see,  I guess that's just the cowboy in me.



And the weeks prior to that, this one by Alan Jackson--Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning:



Those country artists fulfilled a need for their listeners.  We as a nation were still reeling from the September 11th attacks.  We needed some songs to recognize our pain, but give us the strength and desire to move through it even though lots of us didn't know where we were headed.  ...But sometimes I still wake up fighting mad, At where this road I'm heading down might lead, I guess that's just the cowboy in me.

The American cowboy is kind of a romantic dream for Eloise.  I picture a tall handsome man (sporting a goatee and black hat, of course), in boots and jeans full of holes, saddled up on a horse waiting to pull me up behind him.  Kind of like this:

















The cowboy smells of hard work, an outdoorsy kind of smell mixed with sweat and some soap beneath it.  I hold on tight around his waist and ultra firm abs and ride west into the sunset.  I'd surely be headed out to Nevada--Area 51 in search of that alien I know they are keeping out there.

RRRRRRRRRPPPPPPPPPPPP!  (Record scratch, fantasy interrupted).

That can never be.  Eloise is afraid of horses.  Another fear to add to airports, roller coasters, and the Amish.

Horses are so pretty to look at.  I prefer the ones that are able to run wild, without the saddles like these:

and these beauties:

I don't care for the ones that are all dolled up and decorated and made to prance around before judges:

And I CAN'T STAND the thought of a race horse.  I feel so bad for them being stung with those whips by little guys who have something to prove.  What if a horse was like Eloise in nature, slow and kind of plodding, getting whipped like that in a effort to run faster and harder so someone else can gain a prize?  Horrid.  I just want to punch that twerp in the purple below.

Eloise actually prefers this animal:

The donkey is much more my speed.  I'd love one for a pet.  The Lamp Post certainly has the space for one, but there is that nagging issue of my parents living next door......... Daddy!  Look what I found!  Can I keep him?  Can I keep him, pleeeeeease?  The donkey delivered Mary to Bethlehem to bear our Savior, after all.  I don't think you could ask for a better pet.

So as far as cowgirls go, I am a total poser.  I am afraid of horses---really any large mammal with an eyeball the size of my palm I try to stay away from.  Eloise is also highly allergic to horse hair.  I LOVE the smell of a barn, but after a few minutes inside of one I puff up like a blow fish--the face that's in the mirror when I don't like what I see.....  

I could never ride a horse because #1--I don't like things that go fast, like roller coasters and airplanes, and #2--I don't like things that are beyond my control.  Once you're strapped into The Ravine Flyer--it's all over with.  You have no choice but to hang tight and scream.  I tried to conquer my fear and ride a horse once, but the thing wouldn't even let me put one foot in the stirrup.  It started snorting and stomping its foot.  I swear it could sense my fear.  On my third attempt to board the beast it farted and pooped and I considered that a sign. No horsey ride for Eloise.  

I was wearing flip flops that day because it was summer.  Perhaps if I had been wearing these, the horse wouldn't have immediately seen me as a Poser:

Eloise loves boots.  I live in a sleety, sloshy part of the country many months of the year.  Dreaded is the day I get a cold, wet sock in the winter time.  If I wear my boots, my feet stay nice and toasty dry.  A happy Mrs. Eloise makes for happy students for the entire day.  I've got my eye on these as my next pair which kind of matches what I'll be teaching about next year:

...or maybe these:

....this blue would go nicely with my jeans:

But for today, I'm strapping on my red pair and heading out here soon.  An odd turn of events is forcing Eloise to leave a little earlier than I had planned.  We are taking my friend's daughter to the Cleveland airport.  Yes, Eloise is going to visit Her Number One Dreaded Place on the way to see Her Number One Handsome Cowboy.  The urge to run, the restlessness..........

My lifelong friend since elementary school knows how absent minded I can be, especially under a time of excitement or stress.  Since today brings about both, she keeps reminding me that I have the concert tickets.  As per her recent text reminder, I went to search them out in my Super Secret Hiding Place.  I think today is going to be a good one.  The numbers told me so.

I looked up our nosebleed seat numbers in the Cleveland Browns Stadium, and we are seated in Section 513Q, row 17, seats 1 and 2.  Those are all good numbers.  I bought the tickets late, knowing we'd be given only what was left available.  My only request to the ticket agent was that I was attending the concert with a handicapped person and needed end row seating.  I was referring to myself.  I have a handicapped bladder. Eloise makes frequent trips to the potty.

After ten blog posts in a row, and a much anticipated concert late night, don't expect to hear from me tomorrow.  The Lamp Post light will still be burning, even though Eloise will be plugging herself into the wall outlet to recharge a little.  I'll catch you most likely into the middle of next week.

Please watch my favorite Tim McGraw video of all time.  It is Handsome performing The Cowboy in Me at a concert.  It is mixed with clips of him in lighter moments, playing basketball and prepping before one of his shows.  I like the backstage Tim as much as I do his stage persona.  Watch the video all the way through, just for me.  When he points to the camera at the very end--he's pointing to me, up in the nosebleed seats of Cleveland Browns stadium.  We ride and never worry about the fall, I guess that's just the cowboy in us all.

Pray for me, Readers.  It is Sunday.
Eloise

Lesson 172: Silver Medalist, Tim McGraw Song

Eloise's Concert Countdown 

Silver Medalist Song

Last Dollar (Fly Away)

Eloise chose Last Dollar as the Number 2 Song on her Country Concert Countdown Chart for a couple of reasons---illustrated so nicely by Sam.  The kid is obsessed with money.  He has almost every last dime that someone gave him for a gift, saved up over five years of holidays and birthdays.  He once splurged on a set of WWE wrestlers, four in a boxed set.  Other than that, Mr. Tightwad has it all.  The money that he is given, he keeps.  The money that he earns in his Chore Jar, soon becomes Restitution for all the dirty deeds he's done throughout the day.  Sam is a ball breaker who, when you take the good with the bad, winds up breaking even most days.  That is just about how I feel after a day of parenting him.

I posted the video below from my archives.  It was one I made last year.  The video itself is a crazy story.  Last summer I was rather new at experimenting with slide shows, and I cleverly named the thing My Movie (????).  On it you'll see Kenyan,  a friend, and I heading out to a Tim McGraw concert in Darien Lake.  I had never seen Tim McGraw in concert before.  I was familiar with some of his songs like the theme to Monday Night NFL Football (I Like It, I Love It), and Indian Outlaw (which I didn't like).  Kenyan insisted that we go (and that I drive).  And then it was nothing but a case of love at first sight.  I've never been the same since.

Also included on the slide show was the photo story of some little birds that nested in a wreath on my front door.  I took a picture of them every day as they developed and eventually flew away, in all of about three weeks.  The bird story fit the song I loved so perfectly, I just had to use them.

Fast forward to 13 months later to the present day.  That Fly Away blog post has the most hits of any blog I have written thus far.  Wouldn't it be a dream come true if Handsome himself, saw this?  Here are my recent stats:

Lesson 66: Fly Away Jun 27, 2011	1736
Lesson 117: A Pinteresting Weekend Jan 20, 2012	529
Lesson 26: Horizontal Stripes are not Flattering Dec 12, 2010	515
Lesson 144: Gross Apr 27, 2012	229

I see that only 14 more people are interested in Pinterest than Sam's potty training mishap.  Gross is a recent post I wrote about autism statistics.  If you're curious about any of the top four posts, just click on the lesson and the link will take you directly to that blog post.

The song Last Dollar, more commonly known as Fly Away, was written by Big Kenny from the country duo Big & Rich.  The song has an interesting history which I am going to swipe from Wikipedia because it is worded pretty well.  Consider this your Tim McGraw Fact of the Day:

William Kenneth Alphin, otherwise known as Big Kenny, one-half of country rock duo Big & Rich, wrote "Last Dollar" after a disastrous night of gambling in Las Vegas on New Year's Eve in 2002.

He and his manager were in the city as part of the Alabama farewell tour. Alphin had $200 to his name and $140,000 in credit card debt, and in hopes of increasing his cash on hand, he went to the blackjack tables. At one point, he had won nearly $1,000, but instead of stopping, he continued to play. Eventually, he lost all but $21. He gave the dealer a $20 tip, leaving Alphin with literally his last dollar. "That night as I looked down at the sole breaking off of my shoe it hit me like a ton of bricks," Alphin said. "But with that realization came the freedom of knowing that I also had nothing to lose."^[1]

From that point, Alphin's career took off, both as a songwriter and as part of the duo Big & Rich. Several years after the incident, he played some of his songs for McGraw. "I'll never forget the day I played him the song," Alphin said. "We were at Blackbird Studio and Tim was making a new album. As we sat together in my truck, I played him a couple of the songs that I was recording. The second song I played was "Last Dollar." He looked over at me and said, "Are you gonna let me record that?"^[1]

As a sap for anything including children, I really like the ending chorus of the song, which gets cut to fade in my video I posted below.  The song ends with children singing.  They are Tim McGraw's daughters.  Here is what the people's encyclopedia Wikipedia had to say about that:

McGraw's daughters, Gracie, Maggie, and Audrey, sing on the song's final chorus. When Alphin heard McGraw's final version, with the children joining in at the end, "I nearly lost it," he said. "That moment of reflection in Las Vegas all that time ago gave me the hope to keep going and now five years later, that hope is a hit song for my friend Tim McGraw."^[

Hope is a good thing.  Never let go of it, Dear Readers.  Here's some more on some people who wouldn't let go of their dreams:

Eloise is going to be busy for the next couple of weeks.  Not only am I headed to see Handsome on Sunday, but also this will be occupying much of my time:

Eloise is a fan.  Along with my life's dream of being a Today Show Anchor Person, I also had dreams of being an Olympian.  But by the time I was already five feet tall in first grade, I had to put Gymnast and Pairs Figure Skater dreams aside.  I have no athletic ability, am a klutz, and pretty much afraid of speed.  I had to mentally retreat from the sidelines back into the stadium where I guess I belong. Ever the fan, never the player, Eloise.

Imagine this patriot's dismay when I heard the news about our  US Olympic team uniforms.  I actually was looking them up on my own, wanting to see what style of hat the athletes would be wearing (although the winter games always have the best hats).  I found this and thought to myself classic, yet kind of boring.  

Then the news broke about the manufacturing of the clothes was in China.  Then pictures like this started popping up:

And this (yikes, says Eloise):

This reminds me of the book I just read.  It is a teen book titled The Selection by Kiera Cass.  It is a nice story that I think 'tween and teen girls would like.  The book is "The Bachelor" meets "Hunger Games."  It is about a contest where 35 young girls are selected to compete for the love of the Handsome Prince Maxon.  The setting is "future America," and that was probably the most disturbing.  So much so that I can't get what the futuristic picture the author painted for us with her words, out of my head.

What we know as the United States of America does not exist (book does not specify, but it believe it is about 70 years in the future).  Our country is now named Illea after it signed it's massive peace treaty with China after the Third World War.  From page 4:  ...when Illea made the massive peace treaty with China, the New Year came in January or February, depending on the moon.  All of the individual celebrations of thankfulness and independence from our part of the world were simply the Grateful Feast.  That came in the summer.  It was a time to celebrate the forming of Illea, to rejoice in the fact that we were still here.  



This set the stage early in the story, and left me wondering what actually happened during the war.  Kiera Cass answered those questions for us in Chapter 17.  The girls taking part in The Selection were given history lessons.  Prince Maxon had a preference for intelligent girls.  From pages 208 and 209:

"Who was the President of the United States during the Third World War?"


Amy raised her hand and answered, "President Wallis."


"Correct.  President Wallis was the president before the Chinese assault and continued leading the United States throughout the war," Silvia confirmed.
"What was their motivation for invading?  Celeste?"


She smiled.  "Money.  The Americans owed them a lot of money and couldn't pay them back."


"Excellent, Celeste.  When the United States couldn't repay their massive debt, the Chinese invaded.  Unfortunately for them, this didn't get them any money, as the United States was beyond bankruptcy. However, it did gain them American labor.  And when the Chinese took over, what did they rename the United States?"


"The American State of China."


"Yes.  The American State of China had the appearance of its original country, but was merely a facade.  The Chinese were pulling strings behind the scenes, influencing any major political happenings, and steering legislation in their favor."  Silvia wheeled through the desks slowly.  I felt like a mouse in the sights of a hawk that was circling ever closer.


The chapter continues on with more futuristic history and how the United States debt to China changed Europe, Russia, and the like.  Even after I finished reading the book a few days later, I found myself going back to those pages to reread.  Eloise felt like the mouse and kept picturing myself looking up at that red hawk with a big gold star on its belly.

That got Eloise a thinkin' 'bout money.  I thought about the money generated from those Olympic games, the winning athletes, faces plastered all over Wheaties boxes and TV commercials.  I thought about how our ties and alliances to people are forged through money.

I spent a little time here, recently:

I checked out the real deal suits on Wall Street on an ordinary July Monday while on a trip with a couple of my friends.  A day to snap these pictures for me was just business as usual for the folks who stood outside of this building on the way to get lunch.  This is the New York Stock Exchange.  You could feel its pulse as you stood in front of it.

This is the sculpture by John Quincy Adams Ward on the front of it.  I found it somewhat tongue in cheek that he titled the work, Integrity Protecting the Works of Man.

This got Eloise a-thinkin' again.  Money.  United States.  China.  Integrity.  Alliances.  Indebtedness.

I spent three days in New York City and what drew me back twice in my short stay?  Little Italy.  I got a great affordable meal there and wanted to go back for some cookies to bring back to my family before I left.  I liked the atmosphere and the people and I wanted a second helping, literally and figuratively.  

This is Eloise's street view of current Little Italy in New York City.

The pint sized duo I traveled with seems to be purse obsessed.  We also had to go back to Canal Street for a second helping as well.  Chinatown is right around the corner from Little Italy.

Eloise has little to no sense of direction on city streets, although I can find my way out of the woods just fine.  I kept getting confused.  "Where are we," I would ask, "Little Italy or Chinatown?"  The part where the two cultural areas merged was somewhat vague.  An Italian bakery would be next to a shop with a jade statue of Budda in the window.

Look what I found with just a little research:

Little Italy, Manhattan

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Current status

Much of the neighborhood has been absorbed and engulfed by Chinatown, as immigrants from China moved to the area. What was once Little Italy has essentially shrunk into a single street which serves as a restaurant area but which has few Italian residents.   Today, the section of Mulberry Street between Broome and Canal Streets is all that is left of the old Italian neighborhood. The street is lined with some two-dozen Italian restaurants popular with tourists and locals. Unlike Chinatown, which continues to expand in all directions with newer Chinese immigrants, little remains of the original Little Italy.

Can you see the connections in all of my paragraphs now?  Have we become more interested in buying a knock off purse in Chinatown than supporting Luigi in his Italian bakery?


Is money the root of all evil?  So the Bible says in Timothy, Chapter 6.  6:10--For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.  And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.

I guess my guy is in trouble!

Yet, maybe he'll take a lesson from his Momma.  Sam, when you can read here in just a little while, I hope you visit this post someday.  I hope it is before America as we know it evaporates into a vast sea of debt and much worse, indebtedness.  Having to keep an alliance with someone just to stay financially afloat is a very bad thing.  

Sam, my advice to you as you enter Kindergarten in a month, is this:  Study hard.  An education is the most valuable thing you could ever receive.  This country provides you an excellent one, for free.  However, it is up to you to take full advantage of it.  Teachers don't give you your grades--you EARN them.  Don't wait for that winning lottery ticket or your big break on the WWE Wrestling mats.  You'll be far better off persistently studying, working hard, saving your money, and spending it only when you have enough in your little blue wallet to pay for what you want.  Cash.  No credit.  When you receive credit, you owe someone something.  You don't want to go through life owing everyone and their brother (or in your case, your sisters).

Adult readers, if the 'tween book The Selection doesn't seem to trip your trigger, try this one:

It's an old book (1957) about government and people and minds and thinking.  It is a thinking person's big book.  There was a 2011 movie adaptation made but it bombed in the box office.  Some great works are hard to replicate in film.  From Atlas Shrugged:

 So you think that money is the root of all evil? … Have you ever asked what is the root of money? Money is a tool of exchange, which can't exist unless there are goods produced and men able to produce them. 


Wealth is the product of man's capacity to think. Then is money made by the man who invents a motor at the expense of those who did not invent it? Is money made by the intelligent at the expense of the fools? 

Read the book and you will find that you can't answer the questions.  You'll just ask yourself "Who is John Galt?"  If you get the book and end up not liking it, at least it has a naked guy on the cover.  Always a plus.

Kind of like this naked guy. Don't click your tongue at me.  He's mooning all of Wall Street.  Yell at the dead guy--John Quincy Adams Ward.  He sculpted it.  I just photographed it.

Are you down to your last dollar, Readers?  Do you think Wall street is filled with a bunch of sharp suit wearing asses?  The good book tells us that money is the root of all evil, but it sure does make our world go round.  

Lots of lessons for today, Friends, so I'll summarize:

• Work hard. 
• Save for a rainy day.  
• Spend wisely.  
• Cheer for your team.
• Read something.
• Challenge your mind.
• Remember:  Wealth is the product of the capacity to think.  (Thanks, Ayn Rand).

The capacity to think.  Tim McGraw sings Oh you've given me,  a beautiful set of wings.  The ability to think is what really earns you those beautiful wings.  Take flight with that advice today, Readers.

Enjoy your song and photos posted below,

Eloise

Lesson 171: Bronze Medalist, Tim McGraw Song

Eloise's Concert Countdown

Bronze Medalist

She's My Kind of Rain

Here's my real Handsome Cowboy introducing song #3.  Sam's got on his summer wardrobe:  white t-shirt out of the Wal-Mart 3 pack, boxer briefs, and someone else's shoes.  Those are my boots.  No jokes.  I have enough stress in my life.

He's in this get up all day until we decide to go somewhere.  I used to change him when  people dropped by, but I even relaxed on that rule when the well went dry.  The hole in the ground in front of my house that provides Eloise with water dried up twice this summer.  It took the whole night and many buckets from my parents' auxiliary well to fill it back up.   That's the well cap at the bottom of this photo.

We really need rain in my part of the map.  The Great Lakes Region where I am from had a very mild winter with hardly any snow.  On top of that, we've had a dry spring and summer.  That formula makes for low water levels; the thorn in the side of those with weak wells.  Most of the country is suffering from drought conditions.  In a recent article I read gave the statistic that 88% of our cornfields are without sufficient water.  The article warned consumers of a probably increase in food prices this fall.

I like it when things work out, and for this post they did.  We got rain yesterday--a fairly significant amount.  

The view out the Lamp Post back door.

It greened up my grass nicely.

Doused my hanging baskets

Put some water in my creek

One of these days I am going to remember to roll up the van window.

Can you see me?

My cherry tomatoes were happy.

As were the last of my tiger lilies.  Love that flower.

That is the weeping willow along side my creek.  The willow is my favorite tree.  Together on the compound I live on with my parents, we have 5 willows and I named them all.   This is Wisdom. I named her that because she's the oldest and biggest in the yard.   I took this photo out the Lamp Post window. 

The willow trees remind me a little of myself.  They are tall and have those long flowing branches that kind of look like my hair.  The willow's roots run deep, in search of water.  Since you found out in yesterday's post that I am a hometown girl and a Pisces.  I suppose that connects to me as well.

One of the neatest things about the willow is that the bark can be used for medicinal purposes.  The leaves and bark when ingested relieve fever, aches and pains.  This bark was used by Native Americans in our area to treat many conditions.  A synthetic version was created around 1900 and is what we know as aspirin today.

Eloise stays up too late writing, and gets up too early to run.  Therefore that leaves your Favorite Blogger in dire need of caffeine for little boosts throughout the day.  This, in turn makes me drink too much coffee.  Insufficient sleep plus sore muscles plus too much caffeine equal HEADACHES for poor Eloise.  I take way too many Advil and promise myself every week that I will cut back.  If you drive by the Lamp Post and see me gnawing on the base of a tree, just figure I'm giving the drug manufacturers the finger and am trying my hand at an old, Native American custom--chewing willow bark for pain relief.

Unfortunately, the bad thing about willows is that even though they are big and seem strong--their limbs are quite pliable.  Often the wood of a willow is used for baskets.  When a strong wind blows, their branches can snap easily.  I've been known to snap in a strong wind, too.  Look what happened after yesterday's storm.

This casualty is from Wednesday (name of the tree), the willow to the north of my parents' farmhouse, east of mine.  I named it Wednesday because the trunk branches off into three pieces, and Wednesday is the third day of the week.

Those big limbs are foolers.  They look strong, but they are really soft.

Despite the damage, that was my kind of rain.  The storm blew through in about an hour.  The rain was steady and beautiful to watch, but it didn't rain the whole day long.  

The rain Tim McGraw is singing about is a little sweeter.  It's a song about love.  The lyrics are really great in this one:

She's my kind of rain,

Like love from a drunken sky,

Confetti falling down all night,

She's my kind of rain.

How romantic would it be for someone to tell the keeper of the Lamp Post that she was his lost companion,  or Rembrandt's light.  Pretty descriptors, aren't they?

Tim's probably singing the song to his wife, country music star Faith Hill.  You can catch a glimpse of her at the very end of the video.  They walk down the street with their three daughters.

Now for your Tim Fact of the Day:  Guess what city that video was filmed in? I have a few World Traveler Friends who will surely be able to identify the city as they have flown across the pond to visit there recently. Most of you will be able to identify the place very soon as well.   It fits very timely with today, as the Opening Ceremonies are tonight for the Olympic Games.  Yes, you guessed correctly--London!  

So I managed to work Tim McGraw, rain, and London into the same post.  I love it when I can get things to connect.

After today, you're down to only two songs left.  Which two of your favorites haven't I named yet?  Take a guess, write it down on a piece of paper so I know you didn't cheat, and check back to see if we think alike. If we match on the top two, let me know.  You'll get a prize from my prize box.  

Enjoy the video of Handsome and his hats (cowboy and flat cap),

Eloise--just click the Watch on You Tube--it will take you to Handsome in just one click.

Lesson 170: Top Ten Tim #4 Song

Eloise's Top Ten Tim McGraw Song #4

I Got Friends That Do

(photo slide show appears at bottom of this post)

I got at least one friend who is following the countdown.  She told me in a recent facebook post.  I can't wait to see if she agrees with my list.  If she doesn't, that will give us something to battle about when we return to work in a month.

Eloise did not take this assignment lightly.  70 of Handsome's songs in my iTunes library were tough to sort though.  I felt as though I was making cuts for a team.  Agony.  I guess that is why I am always the fan and never the coach.  I can't take the pressure.

Life is all about decisions though.  Here is what I decided on thus far.
To review (all good teachers periodically review):
10.  Live Like You're Dying
9.  My Next 30 Years
8.  Felt Good On My Lips
7.  Beautiful People
6.  Where the Green Grass Grows
5.  Please Remember Me
4.  I Got Friends That Do

Readers, can  you predict which will fall into those top three slots?  I hope I got you thinking.  That is always my goal.

Today's song is about friends.  Tim McGraw is on tour this summer with his friend Kenny Chesney.  They recently appeared on the cover of People Magazine.  Eloise bought the issue, of course, and the pair talked about the Brothers of the Sun Tour which has had sell outs in Pro Football stadiums across the country.  Eloise and Friend will be at the Cleveland, OH show in just four days!



Tim and Kenny are the same age, 44, but to me Kenny Chesney seems younger for some reason.  Maybe it is because Kenny Chesney is single and Tim's a family man.

This should be an interesting show for me.  I love Tim McGraw and can't stand Kenny Chesney.  I even purchased some of Kenny's top songs to practice listening to, attempting to force myself to like him in some way.  I figured everyone else likes him, why shouldn't I?  After doing a search of his songs and finding, SheThinks My Tractor's Sexy, I screamed.  I want to rename it, She Thinks You Have a Pea Head. This goes to show you that you can't help who you love.  Loving someone runs deep in your soul, and is impossible to change.

Since today's post centers around friendship, I can't help but think of my Nittany Lions out on the practice field, now minus the bronze statue of Coach Paterno that stood outside of it.  Who will stay with the team and the university?  Who will take advantage of the NCAA ruling to allow players to transfer schools.  As of this morning, stud running back Silas Redd is still silent.

What would you do it if it was you?  What if it was your child with a promising academic and sports career ahead of him?  I would hope Sam would pray about it, soul search, and seek my advice.  I know if I agonized over something in my life, I'd seek out my Mom and Dad.  Mom would light up a cigarette,wave the smoke out of my face, and talk me in circles for two hours.  Dad would point me in the direction of this poster that hangs in the Garagemahal, leaving me with more questions than I had to begin with:

(Did you notice Rolling Rock made the front row?)

Eloise would hope that her son would be like senior linebacker Michael Mauti.  Yesterday in a press conference, he said this:
"We take this as an opportunity to create our own legacy."  This program was not built by one man and it's sure as hell not going to get torn down by one man."



....and I am sure I Got Friends That Do, too.
Enjoy your summer day and the song below, filled with Friends of the Lamp Post,
Eloise