Tuesday, December 24, 2013

10 Days of Compression and Christmas Eve!

Hello all and Merry Christmas Eve! It's the day before Christmas and I'm at work, per usual. It's pretty empty here, lots of people with their families getting ready for the big day tomorrow. It doesn't bother me too much to be here today since I will be getting out a bit earlier today than normal, thank you to the CEO!

The extra time at home will give me a couple of hours to do some food prep for tomorrow mornings festivities. My sister and I usually take care of breakfast and pastries for Christmas morning, while my parents take care of dinner. On the menu this year is homemade cinnamon rolls (with and without pecans), two different quiches, fruit salad and mimosas. Well, no mimosas for my sister and I. :(  It will be a nice day where we get together early (7:30am, GASP!) have pastries and coffee and wake up a bit. Then we open presents and have breakfast. We then spend the rest of the day watching Christmas movies and putting together a puzzle, have an early dinner and play board games into the night. It really is a fun day and the last one we'll have with just us, next year we will have kiddos in the mix which will change the dynamic of this day going forward.

Today is also the final day of my 10 Days of Compression! Let's have a quick recap of the previous entries!

Monday, December 23, 2013

Momentum Monday and Days of Compression

T'was the Monday before Christmas and the house is a mess. The presents are all wrapped and under the tree, thank goodness! I'm so glad that I don't have to brave the stores for any last minute gifts and I am saying a prayer of peace and sanity for all those of you that will be braving the crowds today and tomorrow. I've got two more days of work until the holiday and then I'm off until after the New Year, WOOHOO!!! I am spending the time off after the holiday to be available just in case my sister goes into labor, she is due January 2nd! SO EXCITING!!!!
 
This year is going to be one of great change for the whole family and I can't wait to see every new moment that comes along. It all just makes me nervous about how I'm going to handle everything with all these new challenges. So when I saw today's Momentum Monday quote, I knew I had to use it.

Thursday, December 19, 2013

Day 5 of Compression and "The Jam" Thursday

Happy Thursday everyone! Hope you all are having a great week so far, only one more day until the weekend! Woo hoo! But news flash! It is only 6 more days until Christmas!!!

ACK!!!

I still have two more presents to buy and stocking stuffers! Oye!! When will I find the time? Maybe tomorrow. I hope tomorrow.

Today is Day 5 of my 10 Days of Compression and I am featuring one of the first pairs of Pro Compression marathon socks I ever owned. The Marathon Pink!

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Bumpdate: 34 Weeks and Day 4 of Compression!

As the weeks creep by, or rather FLY by with the holidays upon us, I am increasingly aware that there will be a new person in my life. A little addition to our family. Family. Not a couple anymore, but a family. Gives me pause every now and then thinking about that.

Then I remember that there will be many sleepless nights and diaper changes and feedings and crying (both baby and mommy!). Stress and sleep deprivation and anxiety and frustration and confusion will abound I am sure for many months (if not years) to come.

At the same time though I think about all the little highlights that I will watch and be apart of, walking, talking, playing with other children, learning, asking questions, growing and becoming a person like you and me. It's amazing to sit back and think about it all. Marvel at the cycle of life and all the unexplained nuiances that happen. It's just crazy.

Today is my 34 week bumpdate and my weekly picture.

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

10 Days of Compression: Day 3

To follow along with my post yesterday, I am sharing Day 3 of my 10 Days of Compression!

Today is the holiday luncheon at work and I was feeling in the Christmas festive mood. Today's pair of compression socks is Marathon Red!

Monday, December 16, 2013

Momentum Monday: Under (com)pression

It's Monday and 9 days until Christmas. I can't believe I just typed that, 9 days away from Christmas! Single digits people, SINGLE DIGITS!! Where has the time gone? I blame Thanksgiving being a week later this year for the sudden arrival of Christmas. We have had our tree up for over a week now, but it's still not decorated. It's got lights on it, but no decorations. Sad sight indeed. I need to remedy that today.

Along with the pressures and expectations of the quickly coming holiday, there are the changes that my body is going through for the last few weeks of my pregnancy. I am officially 34 weeks today, meaning there is only 6 more weeks until the baby is anticipated to arrive and that is just crazy talk, I tell ya! Along with the consistent movement of the pumpkin and new types of discomfort, I am now starting to experience swelling.

Oh yay.

As if I don't already feel uncomfortable in my own skin, my body has now decided to start retaining water with the main collection area being my legs, ankles and feet. Typical right? Most women that I have talked to have complained of  swollen ankles and feet through the latter part of their pregnancy. Mine becomes especially prominent due to the fact that I stand at work, so my feet and ankles definitely take a beating. So how do I combat this issue?

Compression socks!

Not just any compressions socks, but Pro Compression. I have been using these socks for over a year now for my running and recovery and they are the only compression socks that I will wear. I've tried Zensah and CEP and neither of those brands provide the same type of support and comfort as I've received from Pro Compression. Starting yesterday I've started to wear my compression socks on a more regular basis to help bring down the swelling in my legs, ankles and feet and increase the circulation that is needed for those parts.

So my Momentum Monday today is to do a lead up to Christmas with 10 Days of Compression!

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Bumpdate: 33 Weeks

It's Wednesday and time for another bumpdate! It's been fun keeping track of what the pumpkin is doing and seeing the progress that is being made. Not to mention my expanding belly, oof!



This past week since my last update has been quite eventful to say the least. On Wednesday I had actually won an entry to my raceversary race, Seattle Jingle Bell Run/Walk on Sunday thanks to the drawing done by the local website Gametiime. I was so thrilled that I was able to participate in this race, but wasn't sure how I would do since I haven't run in weeks and my belly has really become pronounced and uncomfortable at times. I won't talk too much about it because I have a race recap to write, but all I can say is that it felt AMAZING to run, even for a little bit.

Thursday, December 5, 2013

"The Jam" Thursday

Hello Thursday, it's good to see you again. Let's try to be kind to one another and get me to the weekend safely, sound good?

I woke up this morning to some lovely tweets from my BRF's on the east coast, I love those women! They know how to brighten my day for sure. Another day brightener came in the form of winning a drawing for a race entry! It was announced last night from a local company Gametiime, I had entered to win an entry to the Seattle Jingle Bell Run/Walk and I won a free entry! How exciting! This is my raceversary race and I look forward to it each year.

What is a raceversary race? Well it is the race that you hallmark as the beginning of your racing "relationship"/career/whathaveyou. This will be the third time I am set to run this race, celebrating two years of my love of running and looking forward to my third year that will be an interesting transition back to running after baby. So much to be thankful for and look forward to!

So this means I have one more race to do before baby arrives next month. Yes, I will be careful, no, I will not push myself and yes, I will most likely walk most of the course. I can only do what the baby will allow me to do and I'm not going to push it! This is a celebration race, not one I'm trying to PR!

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Bumpdate: 32 Weeks

It's Wednesday and time for a bit of a bumpdate! Last week was so crazy with the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday that I got little...well, actually no blogging done. Work was insane and life at home was just as crazy prepping for that whole weekend.

Speaking of Thanksgiving, how was yours? Mine was great. Got to hang with the family, eat some delicious food, have some great belly laughs and watch football. Then that night my sister and I stayed at my parents house because the next morning we, along with my mother, went out and did some Black Friday Shopping! The crowds were noticably smaller due to the stores being open the night before, so lines were MUCH shorter and there just wasn't as many people, it was quite nice!

However later that day I got sick, I have no idea what it was but I was just down for the count. Completely exhausted and weak. It lasted three days, so my long weekend where I was going to tackle the baby's room organization and getting things set up all went down the drain. I couldn't do much but spend time on the couch, getting dressed was a chore and exhausted me. I'm better now, not 100%, but definitely better!

Well I'm at 32 weeks now which means I am making more frequent trips to the doctor, yay or something. Here is my pic from this morning.

Monday, December 2, 2013

Momentum Monday: A Cause

Happy Monday! Not only is it Cyber Monday (who of you are shopping online today?) but it is also the first Monday of December. Yes, I didn't stutter. We are in December now, one more month left in this year, can you BELIEVE that?!?! Where has this year gone?!? I swear it has just flown by and it will be 2014 before you know it.

I know it has been a while since I've posted a Momentum Monday, I have felt the absence of it and wanted to apologize. I am not training for anything right now, but that doesn't mean others aren't. I'm jealous of all my east coast friends whose race schedules are just now starting to peak, whereas the races over on the west coast are starting to dwindle, well at least in the PNW.

I can't wait to get back out running again, I really miss the time and mileage that I had to myself and with friends. My legs yearn for that sore feeling again. I've had dreams about running. Sadly waking to find that it was just a dream. It has given me more time to think about what I want to do and what I am wanting to accomplish with my running when I am able to again. More on that in another post.

In the absence of training, my focus has been working on myself, being a better person in general and refocusing on what is important in life and what is "fluff". It's both easy and tough to decipher which is which, because society tends to make us want to believe that the "fluff" stuff is important in life. So when I saw this quote, I thought it was nice to help bring us down to earth a bit during one of the most hectic times of year. Today's Momentum Monday is: