Excited for writing opps

I was looking at my blog yesterday and decided to click on the next blog in the "blogging mommies" sequence I have at the bottom of this page. Up popped Ann Douglas's blog - The Mother of All Blogs. For those not familiar with her, she's the author of "The mother of all baby books," "The mother of all pregnancy books" and many others.
Well, she's currently working on two new books - one on sleep solutions and one on food solutions - and is in need of parents to interview for both books. I e-mailed her that I was interested in participating in the sleep solutions book and she wrote me back and said it would be great to have me participate and that she thinks I will have a lot of insight to share, etc. :) She's sending out the first set of questions in mid-May.
I'm really excited to be a part of the study. :) Oh, and I'll also get a free copy of the book for my participation. Nice. :)

Another writing opportunity I had was to write a paragraph on my birth experience - specifically feelings involved on becoming a new mother - for a book that's being published to help reassure first-time moms, reduce her fears and help her look forward to a wonderful birth experience.
Here's what I wrote:

It may sound cliché to say there’s no greater joy than
having a baby, but for me that is absolutely true.

As my husband Jody placed our first-born child – a
daughter named Ava (meaning “life”) - onto my chest, I
was overcome with emotion. At long last, here was our
baby! Having had a difficult time getting pregnant, I
dreamt about the day of my child’s birth for a long
time. Though nothing could have prepared me for the
events of that day, the first moment I held her and
gazed onto her beautiful face, everything was right in
the world. Ava was perfection. When she began rooting
around and nursed me for the first time, I felt like
the circle of life had been completed. She looked up
at me with her big dark brown eyes and I felt so
blessed to have her in my life. Yes, Ava had arrived
here on earth and I – finally a mother – was in
heaven.

I'm also considering writing an essay for the "This I Believe" essay project that NPR is doing. I still need to read more about it, but a friend sent me the link and encouraged me to write something, so we'll see. I think it would be very cool to do, especially if they used my essay on the radio.

So that's a little of what I've been up to lately. I'm excited to find some ways to share my thoughts and experiences with others.

And here's my quote for today, which I rather like quite a bit.
"You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you."
-- Ray Bradbury