We had a few small thunderstorms roll through town today. Dickens, not surprisingly, does not do well with thunder. I held him for part of the work day, and held him tight during our after-work nap, when it got kind of loud. I could see on the weather channel that everything had really moved through by the time I fired up the movie, so I left him on his own during my intensive cardio.So, they didn't all roll through, apparently. As I watched the kids on the sofa over the movie, I noticed that Dickens kept crawling up to sit right on top of Ginger. Ginger was not thrilled about this. I watched her move--slowly, politely--out from under her new snuggie several times. Each time she repositioned herself, Dickens would be right there curling up on top of her. It was just like that Warner Bros. kitten that used to nestle into the wrinkled skin of the bulldog--only without the kneading, thankfully. (Even Ginger's Damn Cat never tortured her like that.)After several moves, Ginger...

I'm in my phase of "yes, I feel incredibly busy and overwhelmed right now - but I KNOW that as soon as this baby comes, I will feel 100 times MORE busy and overwhelmed and will not feel like I could ever have a family over for dinner for a decent meal THEN.....so I might as well work at hospitality and ministry as much as I possibly can NOW while it is still somewhat feasible!"Yeah, that phase.I went through it the summer before I had Clip too.And that was basically the last time I was regularly in the habit of hospitality and ministry out of my home (as in- the habit of several nights a week.)And it's been 2.5 years since then. Pretty sad, I think.But I kept thinking I'd emerge from feeling crazy overwhelmed with three kids. And I just never did.And then I found myself pregnant again.So I girded up my loins....and have plunged in again.Of course, I love it, and I'm pretty sure it is almost more of a blessing to our family than I think it is for the other family.Hospitality and min...