Oooh! I almost forgot!

I did get my son and I registered for solo competition this year. I decided to get it in early and I didn't bother "discussing" with my son whether or not he wanted to solo this next year. That was one of the problems last year that made us late; Teagan just wasn't sure he wanted to compete and I didn't want to fork out the money if he wasn't going to.

WUSPBA allows for a discount if there is more than one competitor in a family. That means that if Teagan and I sign up together the total cost is $35. However, if we don't sign up before the January 15th deadline then we each have to pay $35. That obviously doubles our fee.

When the deadline came and went and we were late, I just decided to bag it for the 2008 season and take a break from solo competition. I think both of us regreted the decision, but them's the breaks!

Anyway, this year we'll be back competing again.

Band Party and Announcements

Teagan and I attended the band party last night. We dropped in a few minutes late and the feast had already begun. Ian had purchased about 20 pizzas and there were lots of pot luck treats available. Unfortunately I'd just eatten and wasn't very hungry, but I did have a piece of pizza and a couple of soft drinks.

I was mainly there to hear about the upcoming year and find out what was going to happen with the grade IV band. There had been a proposal to move the entire grade IV band up to grade III and I wasn't very thrilled about the idea. I feel like the grade IV is a little more relaxed and not as uptight about things.

The PM of grade IV does get frustrated with things from time to time, but it has always been a rare occassion and for the most part understandable. On the other hand I've seen there is far more pressure in grade III and from my experience it just isn't as fun. Perhaps as I get better my opinion will change, but for now that's the way it appears to me.

The other concern I have had is that the grade III gets a lot of gigs and yet the grade IV rarely gets an invite to perform. Interestingly the ranks of the grade III band have depleated. I've talked to one of the pipers who is probably ready to move up to grade III, but he said he will probably stay in grade IV for another year because he likes it better. Anyway, I wanted to find out if the grade IV band would be invited to play in more gigs this year.

Good news on both counts! The grade IV band will remain intact without a mass movement to grade III, and the grade IV band will be invited to play in more gigs. I'm very excited about both of these announcements, and my son even said it sounded like we would have a fun year next year. Cool!!