A sneaky Santa

Zachary did not want much for Christmas.  A few oboe accessories, a few Lord of the Rings items, and some Lego sets.  This age can be hard to buy for, but when Zachary's band and oboe teacher suggested another oboe that has a full conservatory, I had an idea.  I must say, we've had a challenging year, and really a new oboe was not even on the radar.  But I presented it to John, and he thought that sounded like a good idea. 

We did not have much time to pull this idea off, but Zack's oboe teacher was instrumental (no pun intended).  She had a contact that sold oboes.  After discussions with the vendor, we decided on a used Loree oboe.  He wouldn't make any money on this oboe (vs. another brand we considered), but he felt it was the better investment, had great tone, and had recently been overhauled.  And a big concern of Zack's is whether his oboe is cracked.  This little 12 year old oboe, has never had a crack.  Score!

The vendor shipped it, and then I snuck over to our oboe teachers, who played it.  Linda, Zack's oboe teacher, said she would buy it.  It really sounded great, and all keys were working correctly after one minor adjustment.  I was so excited!  And honestly, I was going off of what both of them were telling me.  But Linda's face really assured me of the purchase. 

So we dove in and made a purchase.  Little did Zachary know, he had just paid for 80% of an oboe, but I didn't expect he would be too upset.  We had discussed how much he had saved and what he wanted to spend.  He was ready...I didn't know if he was really ready though.

Christmas morning arrived and we had finished opening all gifts.  We put this one off until the end because, as expected, Zachary asked if "that one" or "that one" were his to open.  I honestly think all adults were more excited about this gift before he opened it.  And we received the expected reaction...little smiles and smirks.  A delightful, joyous sigh was about all we got.  But after that, he was all oboe for the rest of the afternoon.

What could this be?

"F. Loree!"

The soft squirm of delight

Reality.  "A Loree oboe!"

"Let me play it"

And this was the position for much of the day.

We did hear "this is the best Christmas gift ever!" followed by "I need a Loree thumb rest."  The days that followed consisted of new Loree oboe accessories needed.  And now, we are saving for a Loree English Horn.