Tomorrow I am sending out an application for a writing class offered by The Institute of Children's Literature. It has been a lifetime (sort of secret) goal of mine to become a published author of children's stories and I am super excited to make my official attempt. I am finally realizing that just sitting here with these stories floating around my head won't get me anywhere with this goal... so I decided that it is now or never. I really, really hope that I pass their aptitude test and get accepted. I will feel pretty dejected if I don't. I guess I'll have to wait and see. In the mean time I need to keep writing.

Writing my stories for their test proved to be a lot of fun and very rewarding. I am definitely more motivated than ever and need to hold on to this mojo. I feel like the Little Engine Who Could. I used to have a whole lot of confidence in my writing... I was one of the youngest kids in my grade to be accepted into an AP writing and lit class as a sophomore in HS and did very well in it. English was my favorite subject throughout school until my senior year when I had an evil teacher who told me that my writing 'lacked maturity of style'. She gave me unfair grades and treated me horribly. (She was very well known for being a highly biased teacher, though.) I think that one of my primary motivators for getting published is my desire to send her a copy of the piece with a post-it that says "f-you". I do believe that she has since been fired.

In other news: tomorrow is my first Mother's Day! Geoff and I went out for a nice dinner last night to celebrate and had a great time. Yay for Outback Steakhouse and their fabulous Gluten-Free menu!! It was lovely but, Caelan, you are the only gift I need for Mother's Day. You are my pride and joy and I love you, love you, love you. You are getting SO big and are so ridiculously adorable. I feel like my heart is going to explode just thinking about you.

I'll sign off with a shout-out to all of the moms out there. To my mom, Geoff's mom, grandmas and your future wife, Caelan. NOTHING compares to the love that a mother feels for her children. Motherhood's love is infinite, unconditional and nothing short of a miracle.