Eat, Cry, Panic

While typically my inbox brims with rejection emails, several weeks ago I received a message that began with the word "Congratulations!" Thrilled to see that salutation instead of the usual: "We're sorry, but we just don't think..." I was elated before I'd even identified the sender. (I'm at a place where if you congratulate me on anything from wearing a clean shirt to not stepping on my cat, I'll graciously accept and momentarily glow with pride.) But before I got my hopes up too high, I realized it could be another "Congratulations! You've been selected to attend our 'Combatting Female Baldness & Vaginal Dryness During Menopause' seminar!" email, so, naturally, I had to table my enthusiasm temporarily until I'd read further. But, it turned out, it was, in fact, good news. My application to attend a small writing conference in Italy this July had been accepted. I read the email in disbelief bu