Can you look a gift piano in the mouth?

Okay so that guest room post made me realize that I had never posted about the freakin piano that we unexpectedly inherited. Here is the back-story… My dearly departed mother-in-law, well, was an older type lady. She believed that all fine homes had certain things… China on display, Lace Curtains, … and a piano – whether anyone played piano or not.

She's been gone for almost four years now but my father in law is just now getting around to cleaning up and cleaning out the house (thanks to his new girlfriend but that is an entirely different post). So we get this phone call. "Do you want the piano for the girls because if you don't I'm giving it away to goodwill or something"

"What?" That's what he chooses to get rid of? Not the 3 china cabinets, or the closets full of old dishes, or the nasty feral cat that lives under a bed (again, another post)?

No sir, the piano has to go, so he can do yoga, break-dance, install a stripper poll, "have more room." But here's the thing. I don't have anything against the piano but I have no where to put it. My house is full, to the brim, with furniture. No place to put it. Brother-in-law has agreed to drive it up here if I want it, I don't.

But after a week of debate with the Dr. and hearing Beer-Girl's sage advice: "If you turn down this free piano you are guaranteeing that one or both of your children will want to learn to play it, love it, and you'll end up buying a piano. If they get to 12 and neither of them care, you give it away then. You don't have to keep it forever." With that thought in mind I agree – on the condition they put it upstairs, in the bonus room. Hidden from site.

Surprise Brother In Law! – you didn't think I'd say yes and now you have to bring it up here. And for once in his life, Father In Law is hot to get something done quickly and insists that it happen tout de suite.

So up the road it comes but it's so damn heavy that it's all they can do to get it in the house. All the Perfect Neighborhood men balk at getting it up the stairs. Next door neighbor engineer guy even goes so far as to say he thinks the floor over the garage won't handle the load and one day I would open my back door to see a piano sitting on my car. Fine! I throw up my hands in frustration. Put it in the front bedroom! Grrr!!! Out of tune and with two broken keys I now own a piano I never wanted.

So now our guests have it at their disposal to play but we ask them to limit it to between the hours of 10 and 2.