Another Step!

I'm sitting here, in front of the screen, staring at an eagerly awaited email with the following opening words:

"Thank you for everything that we have received from you thus far. Our review team believes that your work has commercial potential and we would like to proceed by offering to represent you.

We feel that your concept and writing thus far has potential and that if it is polished and presented properly, we can sell it."

You realize what this is? Cause I've read this email surely twenty times today and I'm still struggling to understand it. Struggling to grasp what I've managed to pull off and how incredibly, bloody lucky I am to come this far with the very first agency I've been in contact with.
Oh my God, I'm jumping up and down right now!
I think I'm gonna walk around with a smile on my face for the rest of the week!
No, wait, for the rest of the month. All the way into summer!
You know, I never actually thought they would accept it, I mean I hoped they would, I just didn't believe it. I kinda braced myself for a no so that I wouldn't be disappointed if they didn't want to take it on... and still... I had a good feeling all along. I really believe in this story, and I can't even attempt to put in words how much it means to me that someone else believes in it too. That someone believes in it enough as to take it on and represent me, help me out. Can you imagine?
I pulled off Nanowrimo barely two months ago, already I am being embraced by an agency, if I'm lucky I will be published during the year. Can you believe that? That I might get published?
It's insane, I can hardly believe it!
It finally feels as if everything I've ever done with my writing is starting to pay off, that all the crap I've written before has all lead up to this. It's amazing, the feeling is just... undescribable.
Well, don't get too excited yet, there's still a long way to go. The agency's job is to find me a publisher that wants to buy my story, so being taken on by an agency is merely the first step. But come on! Still! It's so, I'm, I'm just so happy about it, all the blood, sweat and tears is finally taking me somewhere, and an agency, that is a very, very good start.
Next step is to reply to the agency that I'm willing to proceed. They will then send me the contract that I'm going to sign with them (only obligation is to stay with them for a year, they don't get any copyright or anything, merely getting to be my representatives), along with recommendations for good critics. Performing a critique of my novel is recommended so that the formalia and everything can meet or even exceed the set standards. I mean, for one thing, I'm not a native English speaker, so I always go along with the Swedish sort of punctuation and stuff like that. So, next step is, sign the contract with the agency, then send my manuscript to one of their critics for a review. When that critique comes back to me, I rewrite/finish the script, and resubmit it to the agency. When all that is finally done, they can start looking for a publisher that might be interested in the novel.
Phew, all that formal stuff aside, I'm still nervous and jumpy, the same weird way I usually become nervous after I found out about something or after something is over. Then I get nervous, instead of before. Strange behaviour? I don't know, maybe it is, maybe I'm just having a hard time grasping.
My wild imagination races ahead of me, picturing how the finished book will look in print, imagining my name on a published book, imagining that I might actually become an official writer. Imagining that I might actually become able to make some money out of it too. I can't help but admit it would be very welcome, ha, ha. No, seriously, it would take me one step closer to what my dream is - being able to become a full time writer and make a living out of it.
Isn't it amazing?
Oh, my, God. One step closer. Only a few more to go!
POP OPEN THE CHAMPAGNE, FELLAS, CAUSE THE POET'S GONNA CELEBRATE!
Thanks all you guys who stick in there for me!