Self Defense Class

So today was the last and most intense day of the self-defense class I've been taking over the past two weeks.  We had "Simulation Day", which is where we get all padded up (in brand new pads no less, yay for increased funding) and we get attacked by two men (only one is every attacking you at one time) and we have to defend ourselves and run to safety.

We had four simulations total, and the first one was really easy and I was thinking to myself, "Self, you have got this, you just got away from a 250 pound man.  You are awesome!"  I did the moves, I was supposed to and got away.  Yay for sweet freedom.

Second simulation, the two attackers are crowding me and all of a sudden this guy is totally in my bubble and crowding me and everything I learned from class flew out of my head. My response to being grabbed by a big intimidating man? Punch anywhere on his head, and knee him for all that I'm worth.  It worked, but I wasn't feeling so sure of myself.

The third simulation, was the same as the second, but we had a fellow classmate fighting with us, and about the same thing happened.

The fourth simulation  was the worst, because I had to close my eyes while the attackers insulted me and bumped against me and I couldn't fight back until they had me on the ground (stupid unrealistic rules).  I've decided that punching is my best weapon.

So it was pretty intense and scary, but I feel more capable of defending myself now. 

There is this small, very quiet, Asian girl in this class and coming up to the fourth simulation, she was really nervous so she asked me to give her a pep talk (I'm pretty good with pep talks).  So I told her all the usual stuff about how it will be fine, it's only a few minutes (max three minutes), but I told her that she can unleash the Asian Fury.  And from what I heard through the door and from the instructors after the class, she did indeed release the Asian Fury.  I'll get to a see a video of it next week (sadly, I can't share the video here because the techniques we learn are supposed to be secret so men don't find out about them, we don't need to let the enemy know our awesome female self-defense moves).  I'll also get to see a video of my fights, which is good because the adrenaline rush has basically erased my memory of it except for a few flashes. 

The biggest surprise was that I won the "Silver Whistle Award" which is given to one student in the class that the instructors felt did really well.  So I feel pretty awesome, especially since there were some really tough, "hell hath no fury" women in the class with me.

Sadly this last picture is not the closest Troy and Tony, my instructors, got to each other.  When they were demonstrating for us how to get an attacker off of you if you are on the ground, they were MUCH closer...awkwardly closer.

Now that self-defense class is over, I'll need to go back to my normal exercise routine (my hamstrings still hurt from all the kicking we did in class).  So back to peaceful yoga and the elliptical, but most exciting of all:  I found a tennis court near my apartment that has a practice wall.  I love practice walls because it means I can play tennis whenever I want to and without needing to find a partner.  Joy!!!! That is on my to-do list for Saturday. My wishful thinking (meaning that this will never happen) to-do list includes, practicing the piano, practicing the guitar, and actually reviewing my lecture notes after class. I've decided to look at this positively by saying that if I never cross these off my to-do list than I will always have something to do.

Oh, and I finally went to the Dallas library (it took six weeks, which in Lacy Book Time is three years), but I've got it figured out. But now that I have books my productivity has sharply decreased.  I wish there was a way to read a book and study at the same time. 

My next test is in a 11 days so back to diligently studying I go. Goodbye, pretty library, I will come to you soon.  October 19th to be exact.  Don't pine for me too much, but know that I will be pining for you too.

My First Post

Hello World!!!!

I've always been really jealous of my friends who have fun, quirky blogs so I thought that I too might try to accomplish this seemingly impossible feat.  I have serious doubts as to whether my blog will be fun or quirky, but at least it will be a good way for all my friends to keep up with me.  It also has the added benefit of making me seem less "stalkery" when I read their blogs.

I do have some serious doubts as to my ability to actually maintain a blog since my journal writing attempts have averaged out at about one entry every three years.  Does facebook count as a journal?  I feel like it should because of all the status updates, but I may be trying to justify my complete lack of journal writing dedication.  My little sister, Xan, is amazing at writing in her journal and taking picture, and just generally being amazing.  But she's blonde, so it all balances it out in the end.

So, one thing I discovered in trying to set up this blog is that it is hard to come up with a blog name.  There's a lot of pressure to come up with a fun name that isn't cheesy.  I'm not sure I succeeded in this attempt, but I like it. So the blog is called "The Life Cycles of Lacy" Why you may ask?
1) My life is going through a lot of changes right now with moving to Texas from North Carolina and with starting graduate school (don't know what I was thinking when I made that decision) so the "Life Cycles" (emphasis on the plural) made sense.
2)  I'm getting my PhD in biomedical science so "Life Cycle" seemed apropo to represent my interest in science.
3) All the other ideas I had seemed vain, cheesy, or too alliterated(?)

So what is going on in my life right now?
On the school front:
I am almost smack dab in the middle of Core Course, which is the general science class that my graduate program makes every student take to (a) torture us or (b) make sure we have knowledge.  The school claims B is the reason, but I think it's A.  Our second exam is coming up in the very near future, and I can only hope it goes better than the first exam.  On the first exam, our teacher accidentally emailed the whole class, the exam plus the answer key the weekend before the test.  That was definitely an "Oh Crap" moment for our professor.  So the teachers weren't sure if we were going to have the exam on Monday.

My coping mechanism to exam stress:  Free fall 120 ft "for fun" (video hopefully will be included). There was some definite peer pressure involved in getting me to do this "Zero Gravity" activity.  I just think the name "Zero Gravity" is very misleading because let me tell you I was experiencing every bit of gravity while I was falling.  Now if  I was given the opportunity to get on a micro-gravity plane, I would totally do it

Microgravity Video

On the home front:
My dad celebrated his 57th birthday in September and since 57 is my favorite number (thanks to the cartoon "Doug"), I know that this year will be amazing for him.

On the Random Front:
I'm taking a self-defense class and learning some pretty cool moves.  So beware guys: I know how to defend myself and hurt you.  You've been warned... We are coming up on Simulation Day where we actually fight men that have been hired to attack us.  I'm scared/pumped. I also learned that I lack the necessary leg strength to get off the ground without using my hands.  My attempts usually end with me stalled half-way up and falling back down or if by some miracle I actually make it standing, I stumble around trying to find my balance.  Not the safest situation, but pretty hilarious to watch.

So all in all, I'm sometimes enjoying my time in Texas, all the time missing North Carolina, and sometimes missing Georgia.

That's about it for now.  Thanks for reading!!! (and I hope you think I have the makings of a fun, quirky blogger)