I couldn’t contain my joy—jumping up and down, flapping my hands, squealing. I caught sight of myself in the mirror—I looked like a happy T-Rex.

I did the T-Rex dance when I received notification in the mail that one of my hand woven pieces got accepted into the yardage exhibit for Convergence 2008 (an international weaving conference held every two years in North America). I flapped when Daniel got into the college of his choice, and when Sarah surprised me with a present.

I danced when was when I finished my first complete draft of my book The Bloody Brain, and a couple of years later, when I signed a contract with a literary agent. And again, a few weeks ago when a publishing company accepted my book proposal for the now-titled But my Brain Had Other Ideas manuscript.

I did my T-Rex imitation when a long-awaited book arrived in the mail and when I saw the first mock-up of my book on textile techniques. I flapped when an international TA told me that he passed the English test, and right after I pressed the submit button for the grant proposal I’d been fretting over for far too long.

When I received the contract for the bloody brain book, my heart skipped a beat. But I did not allow myself to flap. I still needed to work my way through the “hereto”s, “parties, and “hereby”s before I could sign it—Ugh. But after I signed it, I flapped and flapped.

A few days ago, my hands flapped furiously once again—I received a contract in the mail from a (different) publisher for the textile techniques book.

Woohoo!