The kids were still enthusiastic and encouraging this morning. They said, “We should throw a party for finishing your book!” I said, “Well, I hate to say it, but it’s hardly finished. In a way, as far as the publisher is concerned, I’ve only just begun.”And they said, “Then we’ll throw a party when it’s printed and done!”"That would be great,” I said. “People do that. It’s called a Release Party.”And they said Hooray! Hurrah! and “We’re going to have a Release Party!” and started making plans to rent the neighborhood’s clubhouse, buy 2-liters of Sprite, play loud music, and make lots of brownies and cupcakes.I didn’t have the heart to tell them that the release date isn’t until….Fall 2009.Yes, that’s right. I just said Fall 2009!That feels like, oh, maybe fifteen years from now.So there’s no hurry on the cupcakes.A friend suggested that since the release is so far out there, maybe we should celebrate various milestones, like turning in the draft, signing off on galleys, being shown the final cover design.What a great friend! That sounded like a super plan.As you know, I just hit the first milestone of turning in my draft.So….  We wasted no time celebrating that milestone, baby.And you can see that we did in style, too:Watermelon-Cherry Kool-Aid, and brownies straight from the pan.Clearly, I am a writer-mama.