Thursday sneaked up on me...

Sorry I'm late! Hubs and I were gone ALL DAY yesterday. Left at 7:30 in the morning and didn't get home until almost 10. I was pooped and completely forgot about my blog post. Until just now. This gettin' older thing...it kinda messes with your thinker.

Anyway, since the wonderful ladies covered ACFW pretty well, I won't expound on that except to say if you aspire to write for the Christian market, ACFW is the place to be. Education, edification, networking, prayer support, mentoring... You'll find it all! I've attended all ten conferences and that time with other Christian writers has become one of the highlights of my year. But I said I wasn't going to expound on ACFW conference, so I'll stop now. :o)

Hubs and I traveled to Topeka (and waved at Judy--did you see us, Judy?) to do all the paperwork for Hubs' retirement from the military. Yep, the time has come. Like so many other things, his retirement sneaked up on me. Can we really have spent more than two decades as a military family? His "official ceremony" is tomorrow in Wichita, and I intend to take lots of tissues. I'm so proud of him for serving his country. Although the constant coming and going has been hard (as it is on all military families), I never complained because he was doing what he loved--protecting and serving the United States citizens. *sniff*sniff* (Better grab a tissue NOW.)

After we finished the paperwork (which was a lot less intense than I thought it would be thanks to a wonderfully knowledgeable woman named Bobby), we drove on another hour to spend a little time with youngest daughter and the Wugmump. Hubs hadn't seen their little apartment, so daughter was proud to give him the tour. And Wugmump has grown so much in the past two weeks! Her little face and thighs have plumped, and now she's smiling and cooing...oh, what a delight! I didn't get to hold her much. Couldn't wrestle her out of Hubs' arms (he's bigger than me). But that's okay. Grampas need Wugmump time just as much as grammas do.

So daughter and Wugmump are on their own, entering a new chapter in their lives. And Hubs and I are at the end of one chapter, entering a new one as well. God has His hands firmly wrapped around all of us. It'll be exciting to see how the next pages of our lives unfold.

God bless you muchly as you journey with Him! ~Kim

P.S. -- Oh! Lemme share something exciting that arrived in my inbox while at ACFW! The cover for my first first contemporary story with Bethany House! I love it! This is book one of a four-part series of "starting over," with Mennonite (yes, I know she looks Amish, but she isn't *grin*) characters discovering new chapters in their lives. When Hope Blossoms will release Fall of 2012.

P.S.S. -- I still remember I owe someone a book. I didn't forget. Well, I kinda forgot in the crunch of conference readiness, but now I remember. So I'll get that done soon...I promise! :o)