Yesterday was my cousin Shirley Adler's birthday. Some of you might remember her as the inspiration for my book CHANGING HABITS. Shirley and a good majority of her friends are former nuns. Every year on Shirley's birthday, her friend, Sheila, throws her a party, and I'm invited.

It was at one such celebration that I discovered I was the only one there who'd never been a nun. That's when I decided to write a fictionalized version of these women's stories. Once again this year I was in the minority. In fact, I joked that I was thinking of entering the convent in order to catch up with these wonderfully witty and fun ladies. Happy Birthday, dear Cuz.

With the kids out of school, those of us who swim in the morning at the local high school have the entire pool to ourselves. Can't you just picture a bunch of us old-timers frolicking in the water? Even more exciting, without early morning classes, we're able to swim the entire length of the pool. This equates to swimmer's nirvana. I love swimming, not only for the physical outlet it provides me, but because of the wonderful friendships I have with my fellow chlorine lovers. We're a hardy lot.

This morning I went 16 laps – counting each length of the pool – which amounts to a half mile. Not only did I get a great workout, but I felt genuinely righteous afterward. Now it's back to Joy and Lonny and Red Springs, Wyoming. These are characters in the follow-up I'm writing to an old Silhouette Special Edition called DENIM & DIAMONDS. As for Red Springs, I might not get any farther than my house, swimming pool, and my office, but I'm having a lot of fun "traveling" to Wyoming in my mind and on paper.

Wayne and I had a fabulous, fun time in Amarillo, even if we did lose our suitcase on the flight home. Actually, we didn't exactly lose ours, we just walked off with someone else's – but that's another story for another day.

I had the pleasure of keynoting The Panhandle Professional Writers conference (Frontiers in Writing), and the group was a delight. These Texans have the southern hospitality down to an art form.

Saturday morning I thought I'd practice a little of that friendliness myself. I was down from my room early because I had an 8 a.m. plotting workshop. In the lobby, where coffee and rolls were set up, I saw another writer, enjoying his first cup of coffee. I walked over, plunked myself down, and started chatting with him. He gave me a funny look. I figured he must have missed my talk from the night before, because he clearly didn't remember me. Then I asked him how long he'd been writing. You've probably already guessed that he wasn't in the hotel for the conference. He and his wife had come for a wedding. We had a great chat over our coffee. Hollis turned out to be one of the nicest men I've never picked up in a hotel lobby!

Truly gracious, Hollis shared with me a portion of the cheesecake he had baked for the wedding he was attending. I, in turn, shared it with the conference in their hospitality suite. Everyone, including Wayne, pronounced it the best cheesecake we’ve ever tasted.

I'm in sunny Amarillo, TX. Temp 97 degrees – a bit of a culture shock, considering when I left Seattle the high temperature was 68 degrees.

I'm looking forward to feasting on authentic Tex-Mex food. I'm already enjoying the conference, which had an early start last night with a dinner.

I'll check in with everybody on Monday. Have an excellent weekend.

Debbie and Wayne are in Amarillo today. They had a good flight and, best of all, no mishaps with flight connections. As her secretary, I can heave a sigh of relief over that one, because I always worry. Especially since Debbie is scheduled to sign at the Barnes & Noble in Amarillo on Soncy Road at 7:00 p.m. tonight.

Tomorrow and through the weekend Debbie will be offering the keynote speech and conducting a workshop at the Frontiers in Writing conference, also in Amarillo. She’ll be back in the office on Monday.

Renate

Today I'm going to clear off my desk. Tomorrow morning Wayne and I are flying to Amarillo, Texas for the Frontiers in Writing Conference.

Today most of my time will be devoted to answering a few essay questions for Zig Ziglar for a book he's writing. There's no guarantee Zig will use anything I say—but since he asked, I suspect he will. I've enjoyed Zig's tapes for years and am fond of his folksy sense of humor. He claims he reads the Bible every morning and the newspaper every night, so he knows what both sides are up to. I'll check in with you while I'm in Texas. I love Texas, even in the summer. No place grows cowboys nearly as cute.

I'm a little late getting into the office today. From Memorial Day to Labor Day I meet with a local bookseller and three other writers for breakfast every Tuesday morning. We talk about books, trends, business and all of us seem to have a lot to say about life in general. I treasure these mini-retreats with my friends, which brings up a good point.

Friendship demands time and commitment, and, because we are all so busy, it's easy to let friendships slide. What I find amazing about this extra hour I take away from my writing schedule is that almost always I finish up about the same time of the day as I normally do, writing an equal number of pages. The reason, I believe, is that I return invigorated and buoyed by this special time with people I genuinely like and deeply admire. Yes, friendship demands time, but the rewards are worth it.

Wayne and Ted arrived home from their wild 48 hour drive from Seattle to Colorado Springs early Saturday morning. With only minor exceptions, Wayne hasn't moved out of his chair since. For Father's Day Jenny bought her dad a huge porterhouse steak. He loved it and I baked him a rhubarb cake from a recipe I found in one of my Mom's old cookbooks. As far as Wayne was concerned, his day was perfect.

My day was great, too. After several weeks of being away, I was able to attend church services and do some cleaning that I've wanted to get around to for some time. Today it's back to writing . . . frankly, I could use the break.

It's Friday and I'm feeling especially good. Wayne is with our son Ted–the two of them are pulling a trailer to Colorado to pick up one of Ted's E-Bay purchases. They probably won't be back until sometime Sunday, which means I have the entire house to myself. It's rather nice the first couple of days, but then I start to get lonely and miss my husband. It helps me to understand the way he feels when I'm on the road.

Wayne has less than subtle ways of letting me know he misses me. A couple of weeks ago, when I was in New York, I called after that fancy dinner I mentioned–the one where Henry Kissinger was at the table next to us. My mistake was in asking Wayne what he had for dinner. (Let me put in aside here and tell you I always leave a freezer full of goodies for him!) He said, "Peanut butter . . . on a heel." I let that pass. "What about breakfast?" I asked. Wayne answered. "Peanut butter . . . on a spoon." Don't you just love husbands?

All my jewelry has a story behind it. My favorite is a ring Wayne bought me while we were on a Caribbean cruise. I signed us up for ballroom dancing classes, although I was well aware that my husband is no Fred Astaire. Over the years I've climbed mountains, ridden motorcycles, and sailed Puget Sound with him, and I figured he owed me.

The day of our first dancing class, when it became apparent I wasn't going to let him talk me out of this, Wayne said, "All right, Debbie, what's it going to cost me to buy my way out of this?"

You should see the ring, it's a stunner! The reason I bring this up now? Our entire family is scheduled to go on an Alaskan cruise the first week of July. I think I'll go on line and see what kind of classes the cruise line is offering . . .