Random Ramblings

I have had so many little snippets of thoughts and ideas for a blog update, but I haven't had time to write anything down. This is going to be a rambling rush of random thoughts, so don't mind me...
1) I am such a sap! I have been crying every night during the Olympics. It doesn't matter if the athlete is American, Korean or Canadian, I am truly moved watching Gold Medal performances, and even more touched watching the winners sing their national anthems with gusto! I have also cried during some of the feature stories - an athlete overcoming adversity, a town helping a family, and, last night, the people of the city of Gander, Newfoundland, helping during the crisis on 9/11. I love stories of hope and kindness!! Several commercials have made my cry recently: the P&G one with the moms singing to their children, "When you walk through a storm, hold your head up high, and don't be afraid of the dark...walk on, walk on with hope in your heart and you'll never walk alone!" I love it! There's a CVS commercial that touches me, and all of the "Having A Baby Changes Everything" ones make me cry. Yep, I'm a sap alright...and NO, I am NOT pregnant!!
2) The potholes are really bad today. I drove to church this morning, and later took NCH to his musical rehearsal and I was swerving all over trying to avoid hitting them! March is notorious for potholes around here. The good news: spring is on its way.
3) I'm super-bad at running fast. In January, I started "Couch to 5K" all over again, trying to improve my 5K time (it's never been under 30 minutes.) It was fine for the first couple of weeks, but I've been on Week 5 for two weeks now and I just can't maintain the pace I want for more than five minutes. I'm quite sure that it doesn't help having all four kiddos staring at me as I sweat and huff and puff on the treadmill, located in our family room, but come on! It's getting rather frustrating.
4) I love my church. The pastors did a terrific series on suffering, and it really emphasized God's greatness, His goodness, and His sovereignty. Worship is one of my favorite times of my whole week - I love singing to God and I really miss singing on the praise/worship team. Today, we sang some of my favorites, including "In Christ Alone" and "God Has Come." I met a new family last week and another new family today. There is something exciting about meeting new people, especially at church, knowing you already have something so huge in common. I am going to do my best to reach out and make new people feel welcome. I also need to do a better job of inviting people over...I keep saying I'm going to do a weekly pizza night and invite a different family each week, but it's only happened a few times so far.
5) Hubby and I are in a good place. You know how you can have good times, bad times, so-so times, and great times? We've been laughing a lot lately and it feels terrific! For Valentine's Day, I wrote him a love letter...an actual pen and paper letter, and I think it surprised both of us (in a good way.) When we do have moments of adversity lately, we're getting over it quickly. We've been backing each other up while disciplining the herd, and it's wonderful to be on the same team when parenting! His top love languages are "words of affirmation" and "physical touch." Mine are "acts of service" (from MY list of items) and "quality time". We've known for awhile now that we speak different languages - he's the fun parent, with less rules and more rough housing. I am the orderly one, with high expectations of everyone, especially of myself. It has been a work in progress for us to not only work together, but to support one another along the way. The past month or so has been really good. I am trying to compliment more and command less. It seems to be working!
I have lots more to say, but I need to get NJH up from his nap so he and I can cheer on USA Olympic Hockey!