Orange Belt

Since I have started numerous other social networking pages I haven't blogged on this page in a long time. I thought that since this is where it all started that it would be fitting to write here about my last few accomplishments. May 3rd, 2009 was our 2nd annual 5 boros tour, and all I have to say is we survived. The entire day was cold and rainy. When I say rainy I don't mean a few showers. I mean a deluge that cleaned the streets of New York. The temperature was about 45 degrees with the rain and win chill hypothermia was a real threat. We arrived in New York at 6:00am to line up, in the rain. We got back to our car, in the rain, at 4:00 pm. This was only accomplished after 3 flat tires on my still fairly new bike. 2 flats in the front and one in the back. In any event you can tell from this that I'm still alive.

The very next weekend my husband and I passed our Orange Belt in Krav Maga. We started our next level of training last night!

Krav Class

Last night we went to our second Krav class. Going forward we will be going at least twice a week, so we will go again this Saturday. I am really enjoying the class. Last night, the aerobic workout portion of class almost did me in. During the previous class we had done a lot of jumping jacks, crunches, and push ups, so the week since then I have been practicing those moves every morning. Well, our instructor must of been wise to my training because last night's workout consisted of a lot of running, which by the way I had not practiced or trained for. Needles to say, it was another intense workout. After the workout we were broken in to two groups once again. Our group worked on getting up from a take-down position. At first, the move seemed overly complicated. I mean doesn't everyone know how to get up from the ground? However, once the instructor broke it down I finally understood. The move started from a sitting position. To get up, kick your attacker with your strong leg, for right handed people this would be your right leg, then at the same time brace yourself with your strong arm and hop back on your left foot to get distance from your attacker, then bring your right foot around and end up in your fighting stance. When done smoothly this is a quick and effective way to get up from the ground. In any event, I am a little sore today; however, I am really enjoying the class.

Krav Maga

Last week my husband and I signed on for a new adventure. We went to a Krav Maga class, and ended up signing up for the program. Krav Maga is a self-defense and military hand-to-hand combat system developed in Israel. It emphasizes maximum threat neutralization. It came to prominence following its adoption by various Israeli Security Forces. The class is broken up in to two parts. The first part is an intense aerobic workout consisting of timed drills of jumping jacks, push ups, crunches as well as punching and kicking. After the half hour aerobic workout the class is split in to levels, and each group works on learned and new skills. The part I found most interesting was holding the target pad while someone else hit the pad. The force, even with the pad, of a punch or elbow hit is amazing. I think it is very important in self defense to know what it feels like to be hit, so you can expect it to a certain extent. This was for me was the most intimidating part of the class, but I think in the end it will be the most important. We also worked on getting out of a choke hold. For me, this was the first time experiencing anything like this class, and all though a little scary I already feel more confident. I look forward to my second class this week, and to getting in to a routine.

Hike Around The Falls

This weekend my husband and I took a drive to a beautiful state park not too far from our house. It was on oppressively hot day but we decided to hike anyway. The scenery was amazing, and while on our hike we were able to take our shoes off and put our feet in the river to cool down. After making it to the top of the falls we actually crossed the river bare foot, and rested on the rocks before putting our shoes back on and heading down.

Even though it was a pretty short hike we had still worked up an appetite, so we changed and left the park in search of food. We came across a sushi restaurant. We ended up having a great meal, and we look forward to going back there for dinner in the future.

In the end, it was a great day to get out and enjoy each otheres company. We got in a little exercise and a good meal.

Rainy Days

Why do rainy days get us so down? Is it the darkness, or the dampness? I look out the window and up at the sky. The colors that are normally there are gone. The bright greens of the trees and the blues of the sky are replaced with shades of grey. The vitality and noises of the world are drowned out by the sounds of the rain as the drops hit the ground. Yet rain is such a cleansing phenomenon. It washes away dirt and nourishes life. So why do I feel so depressed? Why do I keep looking out the window? Just watching and waiting for that glimmer of sunshine to peak through the darkness.

Memorial Day

Memorial Day is a United States Federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May. This year it was on May 26, 2008. Memorial Day was formerly known as Decoration Day, it commemorates U.S. men and women who died while in military service. It was first enacted to honor Union soldiers of the American Civil War, it was expanded after World War I to include American casualties of any war or military action. Memorial Day is significant for me because my grandfather fought in both Korea and Vietnam and retired from the United States Army. Our family honors him, along with all soldiers, on this day. My brother followed in our grandfather's footsteps by enlisting in the U.S. Army, when he was in his last year of high school, and was shipped off once he graduated. Similar to our grandfather, my brother too was stationed in Korea. Fortunately, for our family he did not have to see battle, and his military service ended shortly after September 11th, which was a great relief to me. This week I want to honor all of our soldiers, my grandfather, who has since passed, and my brother. I love you all! Thank you for your service. I am truly proud to be an American, and I am indebted to you for protecting me and my family. Thank you!

CO121 Final Grade

I completed my final paper and turned it in last week. Final grades have been posted, and I received an A for the class. I'm proud of myself. I worked really hard on my blog paper as well as the class assignments. I won't actually get my paper back for a week or two, but then I'll be able to see what corrections were made and any comments. This was a very informative class that focused on mass media. One of our text books, UnSpun, was really interesting and opened my eyes to how bias news stories can be reported by the media. From news broadcasts, to commercials, and political candidates, different media outlets put their own spin on what is reported. A great website to debunk political spin is http://www.factckeck.org/ which is organized by the same people who authored UnSpun. Now, I'm off to American Government which also looks like it'll be very interesting!