I've decided not to play in the Medalist concert band this summer, and I probably won't play the next season starting in the fall either. It costs $150 per year to be a member, and this year's repertoire was light on percussion, so for $150 I spent a lot of time sitting around waiting to play. Plus Medalist is community-service oriented and we travel out of the Twin Cities metro area to neighboring rural towns and play. Last night we had a gig in Cannon Falls - a 1.25 hour trek from home.

But perhaps the biggest reason to quit is Eva and Nikki. Medalist just hasn't been that fun, and it's stressful for Nikki to stay at home all day and night on rehearsal and concert days with a highly energetic 8-month old baby (not to mention back-to-back rehearsal and concert nights). It's hard to justify going to something I don't enjoy while forcing Nikki to take care of Eva for such a long time. Plus when there are other things I need or want to do like work on our basement then that just cuts more into Eva time and doesn't give Nikki a break.

The down side is that I enjoy being a concert band percussionist and I'll be giving that up. But it's just not worth it, especially for $150.