We have a piano!

I can't tell you how excited I am. I've been scheming for years on how to get a piano. Our last house was microscopic (that's only a minor exaggeration: it was 690 sq. feet), but I have been known to tease my long-suffering honey that I was gonna get a piano anyway and Velcro it to the ceiling, just so we have one. Then, when we moved here to the 'Ville, one of the first things I thought of was how to get my paws on one. We've been here almost a year and a half. Every time I bring it up, rationale (read: budget) kicks in and it doesn't happen. But some good friends of ours are moving across the state, and can't move their piano. It's an old, heavy upright...exactly the kind I wanted! It needs love, but it's still beautiful. Gabba finally has a real piano to practice on, and Lucy, Eliza and The Veeves all enjoy plunking away.

Saturday morning starts like this: Mark and I outlining plans for the day: got to do A, finish typing up B, pick up C and call D, be sure to fix E and F, etc. Just as soon as we felt like we knew what we were doing, our friends called, to tell us that Mark's dad and about eight young men had just loaded the piano into his truck, and he was on his way up here. !OH! So, I started calling burly, helpful men in our little Branch to be here on the receiving end when Dad got here. It just so happened that Ed, the guy who runs the Family Co-Op Garden (which is responsible for 36 quarts of green beans in my basement and 10 quarts of corn in my freezer, but that's another story entirely), came by at that moment to deliver Gabba's watermelon - she planted the seed. It was a sign from Heaven! One of Ed's many talents is that he tunes and repairs pianos. He has ALL the nifty tools for moving them, too. So, I graciously accepted the watermelon, and asked if he was available. He grinned, and promised to be back with his "tools". An hour and a half later, when Mark's dad pulled up, he and Ed and Mark unloaded the piano and had it in my living room in about seven minutes. Boy, it's nice to have the right tools for the job! Ed said he can fix what needs fixin' and tune it and everything. And, since the piano was *free* I don't feel bad shelling out $$$ for some TLC. When the other guys we called showed up, Mark and Ed and Wayne were already done and smiling. Tom (Helpful Guy No. 1) joked, "Took you long enough! I waited down at the corner for 15 minutes just to be safe." Then of course, because Grandpa was here, we had to sit and visit. And when Ben (Helpful Guy No. 2) came, he brought his wife and kids, and the visit turned into a BBQ with brats and chicken and salad. How did that happen? I don't know. It was fun, though.

Oh, I almost forgot: Mark taught Hyrum how to mow the lawn. Some lady down the street was having a yard sale. Mark asked her what she wanted for a mower. She said: "Take it! It's broken, and I don't want it, and I don't want to move it back into the garage." So he did. 45 minutes and three bolts later, he'd fixed it. So he used one mower, and Hyrum used the other, and they got the lawn done in three-quarter time. I asked Hyrum if he thought it was cool to know how to use the lawn mower. He said, "Not really, 'cause it means Dad's gonna want me to mow the lawn from now on." Ha! Doesn't miss much, does he? Later, after the BBQ, he and Hyrum loaded up the mowers, and went to help Ben with his lawn. It usually takes him 1 1/2 hours to mow....they got it done in 30 minutes. Many hands make light work!

So, at the end of the day, A and B got done, but C, D, and E were completely ignored. And I am OK with that. Because I have a piano!

Too bad my camera is broken, or I'd post photos of it for you to oooh and aaaah along with me. But my b'day is Friday (no presents, please... just throw money), so Mark may surprise me yet.