My New Organ

My old analog Rodgers organ had keys that kept going out (specifically a contact copper wire snapped off). It drove me nuts--extremely frustrating to say the least. I didn't want to spend any more money on an old organ that wasn't keeping up with my practicing. Amidst all those keys going out, Mark, the organ repairman of the Phoenix area (he had already repaired one key for me) called me to tell me someone was selling their organ. I had previously complained about my organ to my organ teacher and she told Mark, so they seemingly both conspired to find me a new (or new-to-me) organ, haha. This was in December just before our Christmas in Utah, so I thanked him, and called the lady who was selling the organ while at my parents house a few weeks later. She was very friendly and said she wouldn't advertise the organ until I had made a decision on it. The organ was a Johannes Studio made in the Netherlands. It was only a few years old and had 3 manuals. When we got home, I set up a date with her to look at it. My organ teacher was kind enough to come along too check out the organ. She approved of it and the lady (her name is Jean) and I spoke for awhile after my organ teacher left. Turns out her son is (was?) the guitarist of the 80's rock band WhiteSnake, and he is now the guitarist for the Trans Siberian Orchestra. She was selling her organ because she's in her 70's and is retiring. I also stalked her on social media and discovered that she is extremely good at both organ and piano. I told her I'd be in touch and that I would be making an offer. I called a few random organ dealers, because my main question was does the warranty transfer or not? All but one told me that it does transfer, and that I should snatch that organ up since it was only a couple years old. Erik wanted me to offer them something crazy low like $5k but I said no way I'm not out to insult anyone. I decided that $10k was a fair deal and Jean accepted. At first Mark said he and a friend could help me move it, but then after me measuring the inside of my van, we decided to play it safe and not go along with his plan, instead I hired an actual business that knew how to move organs and had their own truck. We set up a date, which was just before leaving for our Florida trip. 

A picture I stole on the internet of my new organ with some useful information

February 4. My organ teacher invited me to an organ concert featuring a professional organist from Austria. She got me in free thanks to being the Dean of CAZAGO (Central Arizona Guild of Organists). It was held at Arizona State Univeristy. I had a little trouble finding the actual building, but I got there just barely in time thankfully. It was held in a large room in the music building with a really cool organ (two organs actually, there is another smaller one on the other side of the room). The organist was really amazing of course. I didn't get any recordings, but it was nice to sit back and enjoy the performance. This event coincided perfectly with my route to go pay for the organ way down in Chandler. I paid using a check (not before making sure the money was in our account), chatted for a few minutes, and left with a hug and 50 pounds of organ music.

He had helpers to pull the stops for him

The Program

My organ teacher is the one in the bright yellow

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I had paid for the organ and set up a delivery date...but how to get rid of the old one? Mark said he wouldn't wish that old organ on an enemy, and being as unfixable and old as it was, I had no choice but to disassemble the organ myself (I guess I was the only person dumb enough to buy an organ as old as this one haha). And I mean BY myself. Erik of course, of course was out of town (in Florida for his conference) so he couldn't help. I did enlist the kids, and they were *mostly* helpful. Ian hung around for a bit while I started the taking-apart process, in order to collect "souvenirs" such as keys and tabs and such. I pretty much used a screw driver and a hammer to take apart the organ. There were so many screws! The thing about this old organ is that the wood was solid so it was extremely heavy. My goal was to dismantle it only so much as to get it to a reasonable weight for me to carry down the stairs and into the garage. I figured that the side ends of the organ were the heaviest and bulkiest--if I could isolate those then I could get it down the stairs without breaking my back. I did briefly consider throwing the pieces out the nearby window, but I decided against it, haha. My solution was to break apart the organ straight down the middle of the board that connected both ends. I think this was the most laborious step, no thanks to a worthless saw. I should have used an axe, but I don't think we had one (at least I couldn't find one). I was sweating bullets at this stage, and my hands, back, and arms were starting to get sore. I made sure to give it a few hard kicks with my feet at the last bit of the sawing step, and then it finally cracked apart. I took a rest and then resigned myself to saw apart the other side, but on a whim I beat it with a hammer and guess what?? What was left of the organ simply plopped apart and I was able to carry the rest down the stairs, with the help of Gabe and Elisa. Phew I escaped any more sawing (i.e. struggling) of that organ.
I did leave the circuit board upstairs--that was just too heavy and I did not want to bother dismantling that for two reasons: one being it's made of metal and I didn't want to even think about how I manage that, and two, it looked totally awesome and I wanted to see if anyone else was interested. So I posted it on a few Facebook selling groups, but no bites. Later that evening I posted it as a freebie on Craigslist, and in the morning my junk mail had blown up with requests for--some even simply admiring--the circuit board. Well shoot if I would have known of the extreme interest, I would have charged money haha. Some guy that was into art came and picked it up a day or two later. I'm glad the circuit board has found a new home and a new life; it really is a cool piece. 

I left the pedal board for a student to practice on, the bench (I like that it has storage unlike the new bench) in hopes of maybe getting it cut down to the right size, and the Leslie speaker which I thought would be nice made into a storage cabinet for music. The pedal board did get picked up, the bench is still sitting exactly where I left it (I'm not sure what to do with it at this point) and the speaker went to the curb with the rest of the organ because I knew making a cabinet out of it would never happen.

Ian saying his goodbye to the organ

And one last song on the organ. Ian playing the Super Mario Bros. "Game Over" tune. Yeah, can you hear that the C's didn't even work? An appropriate song--game over for you, old organ you've lived a nice long life.

The circuit board. So cool! And so very heavy.

Dismantling the organ. How did I feel about doing it? A teensy bit sad, but mostly I just wanted it done so I tried to not think too much on it. 

Ian set up his own mini-organ with a few of the souvenirs we kept from it.

The pedal board, also very heavy but not heavy enough that I couldn't take it down the stairs myself. It went to a student to practice on.

The Leslie speaker. Like the circuit board, it was too heavy for me to bring down the stairs so I left it upstairs for the movers to move it for me.

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It was finally delivery day for my new organ! I was so excited. I decided to put it in the same spot as my old organ. I really liked where it was, even though taking an organ up stairs isn't anyone's idea of fun, but I told these new movers, hey if that old 1960's analog organ can fit up the stairs, so can this new, much lighter, much compactor organ! As expected, the movers had no trouble getting the new organ up the stairs. They were even kind enough to move the speaker and circuit board to the garage for me, free of charge but I would have paid them had they insisted. I was all done within a half hour. I paid them a couple hundred and now the organ was mine all mine! It is no nice to practice on a functional and modern instrument!

Moving the organ up the stairs.

My beautiful new organ. It is so nice to have all the keys working. I really enjoy the variety of stops and most especially I enjoy having headphones so I can practice whenever I want.

Ian's 9th Birthday Celebrations!

This cute little guy turned 9! I made him a birthday pancake and off to school he went. 

Later that evening, we went to Chick-fil-a as requested by Ian. He opened some gifts and then we all ate the strawberry cake roll. Ian's presents were: Prime drink and Karl gummies from Elisa, two Nintendo Switch controllers from Dad, a plastic Donkey Kong from Gabe, Mario Bros. paint by number canvases from Grandma Julie, Mac n Cheese socks from Aunt Lisa, $25 from Grandma and Grandpa, and a DIY wooden remote control car from me. 

Ian with his gifts

Singing happy birthday to a very special 9-year-old!

Ian couldn't decide if he wanted a friend birthday party or not, but he finally settled on having a small one. He invited 4 boys: Conner, James, Landon, and Edmond. I let Ian design his own cake over the Walmart App and I picked it up on the morning of his party. I didn't plan much for this party, but Ian just wanted to play the switch with his friends anyway so that is what they did for most of the party. Sometimes they went outside on the trampoline. The boys had a great time goofing off together! Erik went out to pick up the pizza and then we had cake and Ian opened even more gifts!

Yummy pizza!

Lots more gifts for Ian!

The birthday party crew

Cake time!

Later that day:

Elisa's sweet friend Jayde gave Ian a gift--a Mario shirt and fruitsnacks

Ian modeling his Mac & Cheese socks. They are a little bit big!

Happy 9 years to my very special Ian! 

January Random Happenings, Part II

Here are more fun things we did in the second half of January:

 

Jan. 16-18

I finally finished my first-ever painting of a grand piano, which I wanted to hang on the wall above my piano. I was inspired by a painting I saw on one of our cruises. I wanted it colorful so I tore up some old sheet music and had fun making paint splatters. I didn't have too much of a plan for this, I just went with whatever I felt like at the time. I'm pretty happy with it, but the angle of the keyboard is slightly off, whoops!

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January 19

Ian had fun making Mario figures out of clay.

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January 22

Erik and Ian worked on Ian's Nintendo Lego set that he got for Christmas. Ian had to do all of his work first before they worked on it (just one bag at a time). They worked on it for at least a month, since they didn't complete a bag every day, and it was a really big Lego set!

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January 26

This pretty princess choose to go to her school dance. She even chose and bought her dress herself, from a China-website called Shein. I'm surprised it actually fit, let alone arrive. But she sure looked cute! I helped her fix her hair the way she wanted, and she went off with her FBB Jayde but not before I bribed and cajoled her into letting me take some pictures of her. I'm assuming she had a good time, even though she didn't tell me much about it. They served Chick-fil-a for dinner is about all I know!

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January Random Happenings, Part I

 Here are some fun things that happened in January! 

January 3

Ian thought something was so funny. If I could only remember what it was! I thought the spoon he's holding would give me a clue, but I can't place it. He is such a good-humored little guy!

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January 6th

Ian went to his first Primary activity of the year, they were to act out scenes from the Book of Mormon. Ian's CTR 8 class was assigned Lehi's Dream. He played Lehi. He's a good little actor, but needs to remember to face the audience always!

Click here for the video.

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January 7th

Ian is such a ham! We love him so much.

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January 7

I was a rather chilly winter 2023-24. It even hailed once (it will do that every couple years or so). Erik made a hailman. The hail didn't last too long though.

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January 9

I found a recipe online to make my own hummus. I always thought I needed tahini, but this was a tahini-free recipe. It was super easy and turned out really yummy, and I've made more since. I will never buy pre-made hummus again! Especially when a can of chickpeas is only $1

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January 9

Ian is the funniest little person in the world! He was upset after Activity Boys that evening because he didn't get a drumstick ice cream at the activity. We told his leaders and they gave him two drumsticks to make up for it. I gobbled up one and I told him to save the other one for later. When I checked on him that night, he had this note taped to his sleeping mask. It reads: "wake up. go downstairs. eat drumstick right when wake up". What a silly boy!

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January 10

Fry's was practically giving away some dairy items and some pie crusts. Some girl in my ward sent out a group text letting a bunch of us know about this sale. I had Erik go to the store and pick up some. I wish he would have grabbed more looking back! But dairy doesn't last forever.

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January 10

I made the high honor roll--Straight A's aka the Principal's List. So proud of my smart, hard-working boy!

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January 11

I decided to try making homemade butter using the extra cheap heavy whipping cream, since I had Erik buy two of them. The directions are easy: mix until it starts to separate, then strain with cheese cloth, add salt, and rinse with cold water. The directions meant mix, not whisk. I was using the whisk attachment at first, and it was going nowhere, but as soon as I switched to a beater, it started to magically change into butter! I let the kids help. The liquid leftover was buttermilk that I put in a jar in the fridge and used in later in my biscuit mix. The amount of butter I got out of one quart of heavy whipping cream equaled about 3 sticks of butter. So a steal for 25 cents, but totally not worth it at the regular price of almost $6. Not to mention time and energy. It was actually pretty fun makin this butter, but I doubt there will ever be a sale this good again!

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January 15

In addition to making homemade hummus and butter, I decided to try making homemade cheez-its. Not because I was on a homemade kick, but because I had so SO MUCH cheese in the freezer I decided I need to do something to use it up, and these cheez-its use up an entire 8 oz package of shredded cheese. They turned out addictingly delicious, but not as crsipy as the store chezz-its; the texture was slightly different but the flavor was better. These are NOT a healthy snack, they're butter, salt, flour, and cheese. so carbs and fats and fats and a whole lot of sodium. My one mistake was cutting them too small. It took to long to make all those little squares. Next time I will but into larger, easier shapes. There will be a next time for sure because these are so good!

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