Vacation granted - now what?

Well, I got the time off that I requested - thank goodness! I feel a definite need to recharge my already low battery, but now what concerns me is being able to afford it, in particular, Augusta. As mentioned in yesterday's blog, I am torn regarding my "economic stimulus" check as to what to do with it: bank it and give myself some desperately needed financial breathing room, or use it to go to Augusta and still find myself in difficult financial straits. I'd love to do both, but at this point, barring winning the lottery, I don't see how I'm going to manage it. I keep trying to figure it all out in my head, but so far, no easy solutions have appeared. Tuition this year for Irish Week is the most expensive of all the Summer workshops, even Week 5, which includes the Augusta Festival. It's always been that Week 5 was the most expensive because of the included cost of the festival, but this year, the price for Irish Week is the highest. Maybe the staff wants higher pay or something, or considers themselves worth more than any other week. I don't know. But tuition this year is $440 and room and board are $347, a nearly $60 increase over last year's prices. That difference is making it very difficult this year for me to afford, and it really upsets me that they've done this, but having gone down to Irish Week for close on 20 years now, I can say that what you get out of such a week is worth its weight in gold. For me, to get the chance to sing with some of the best singers around and hear some of the best musicians in the world in the Irish tradition is such a treat. I just wonder what's behind the rather steep price increase from last year. Whatever the reason, I am sure that it's going to mean a significant drop in attendance from years past. I can almost predict that. Some of the old "Augusta Irish Week Regulars" from years past haven't been coming in recent years and I have noticed a decided drop in attendance the past few years. That may be a part of the rationale behind the steep price increases this year. They probably aren't making as much money as they were in the heyday of the "Riverdance" craze that drove tons of people to study Irish step dancing and record attendances at Irish Week. But then, I rather enjoy a smaller, more intimate crowd anyway. It makes for much more of a familial atmosphere and makes for far more enjoyable sessions at night. Fewer people means higher quality musicians that do actually come, and there is more of a chance to play or sing. So all I can do for now is to hope that somehow, some way, I can still go and not break the bank doing so and still be able to afford my other vacation, Pennsic War. I don't have long to decide what to do, though. Irish Week begins next weekend, Sunday, July 20th.