Welcome, Readers!

May is my birthday month.  I usually enjoy my birthday with my family, whenever we can squeeze it in, and my mother always bakes me my favorite cake, Cinnamon Chiffon with Strawberries.  It’s delish, and I look forward to it every year!  The picture below is close, but my mom covers the outside with fresh berries, and it’s amazing:

However due to the nature of my work, the days surrounding my birthday are some of the most busy of the school year.  I am a band director by profession, which means spring concerts hit during Birthday Month, as well as evaluation festivals for music students throughout the state of New York.

Don’t get me wrong.  The month of May is a very exciting time, but Birthday Month always holds a certain amount of pressure.  This year, though, even with all of the stuff going on, I have had the Best Birthday Month…Ever!

Here’s why:

May 1 and 2-  My students performed extremely well at their evaluation festival.  Hurrah!

May 6- My actual day of birth- Free wings and a pint at a local venue, one wing for each year.  That was an astonishing 44 wings to share with my family and friends (I’m not ashamed to admit it!).  This was followed by a jazz performance with the Adirondack Jazz Orchestra at said venue, which my husband is a part of.  Awesome night!

May 7- Somehow I drum up the courage to submit two short stories for consideration into an anthology.  Thank you @KathleenPalm and @ShawnTWrites for encouraging me!  The experience of short story writing prompted me to write a blog post, here.  In many ways, writing shorts has changed how I approach my novel writing.  If you haven’t tried it, I encourage you to do so.

May 8- It is announced that I won a full manuscript edit from @KisaWhipkey.  The woman is incredibly generous with her time, and talented with her skills.  It is an honor and a privilege to be able to work with her.  I am still floored by this.

May 14 through 21-  An absolute whirlwind of school concerts.  Our students performed beautifully, as did my own high school aged son at his school concerts.  So proud!  During this crazy week, I received a very flattering message from a writerly person regarding one of my manuscripts.  As a writer, that  meant the world!

May 30- I got to enjoy my daughter’s amazing ballet performance of Alice in Wonderland.  Same afternoon:  I found out that one of my short stories, which I entered back on the 7^th, was selected for inclusion in the anthology!  Unreal!

Which brings me to today, May 31, 2015; the end of one of the Best Birthday Months Ever!

Also, I should mention that this was a fantastic blogging month. Including this, I wrote a total of six posts this month!  I am in a wonderful place with this blog.  I have a weekly posting rhythm going, which is where I have wanted to get to for some time.

I would also like to thank all of my new blog followers and commenters as well.  I love connecting on here.

Thanks for reading!  June 1 is tomorrow.  Let’s see what next month will bring!