graduation

megan took some really cute graduation pics, but then her memory card had an oopsie and deleted them all. sooo... i'm left with a couple off of dad's camera and a few that megan took the day after but have yet to be uploaded. anyway, here are a few pics

mom and dad:


MAP+ haley:

diploma:

the signature close up of our faces picture:

side note: i ran in shorts and a shirt today. i move to boston in a couple weeks and have a feeling that won't be happening anymore.

MMEERRRRYY CCHHRRIISSTTMMAASS!!

Psalm 111

Psalm 111
1Praise the Lord.
I will extol the Lord with all my heart in the council of the upright and in the assembly.
2Great are the works of the Lord;
they are pondered by all who delight in them
3Glorious and majestic are his deeds,
and his righteousness endures forever.
4He has caused his wonders to be remembered;
the Lord is gracious and compassionate.
5He provides food for those who fear him;
he remembers his covenant forever.
6He has shown his people the power of his works,
giving them the lands of other nations.
7The works of his hands are faithful and just;
all his precepts are trustworthy.
8They are steadfast for ever and ever,
done in faithfulness and uprightness.
9He provided redemption for his people;
he ordained his covenant forever--
holy and awesome is his name.

10The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
all who follow his precepts have good understanding.
To him belongs eternal praise.

i got a job!!

it's technically not official yet since i don't sign my contract 'til this week; but i got a job offer from perot systems. i will be a healthcare business systems analyst at the tufts medical center in boston, massachusetts. yes, that's right, boston. i'm a little worried that it is so far away and incredibly cold but very excited to try someplace new- boston is supposed to be a fun place to live. i start january 12th and live in boston for 30 days before doing six weeks of training in plano. then it will be back to boston. this is my first job that comes with health benefits and a retirement plan, which makes me feel very adult (since i am an adult, that is a good thing). also, the job involves interacting with physicians and no IT, which makes me happy. anyway, the job is an answer to prayer, but please keep praying because i have to find a place to live and moving up there and getting started is going to be expensive and i won't get a paycheck 'til the 30th. i know God will provide; He always has. i just have to quit worrying and trust Him.

school update: 1 more final to go before graduation!!!
**while i am excited about graduating and definitely ready to be done with school, i am a little apprehensive. i realized that i've been in school for a long time (almost twenty years?) and it is something that i'm good at. what if it is the only thing i'm good at? i've never had an "adult" job before and am kind of afraid i'll be a huge failure. i'm hoping these are just insecurities that come with the fear of the unknown and starting something new and that i'll get over it eventually.

quick brock story: i made a carrot cake for my mom's birthday on friday and when brock and brax came over to give her their present, brock asked if he could see my cake. he stuck his nose right next to it, took a big whiff, and announced, "mmmm... it smells like delicious cinnamon." i'm not sure if he even likes the taste of cinnamon, but he apparently likes the smell.

merry christmas to me!

since i was in DESPERATE need of new running shoes (we're talking incredible foot pain when running in the old ones) i got my christmas present early -in time for the turkey trot. We went to the FW Running Company and they filmed me running on the treadmill and then played it in slow mo on a monitor in order to figure out which pair of shoes would be best for me. i learned that i roll by ankles when i run, which i already knew since i kick my calves with my heel- btw, my calves looked huge! anyway, here are my new shoes... aren't they pretty?!?!?in other news, school is ALMOST finished. i finally finished my huge research paper so now i only have one and a half more presentations and a final exam and i'm finished. now i just need a job. keep praying, please.

it may still be over 70 degrees outside...

but it is officially wintertime (yes, wintertime and not christmastime--christmas comes AFTER thanksgiving people)... because today i ordered my first "double tall peppermint twist mocha extra hot". we will not discuss the fact that there was no "non-fat" put in that order because it was simply amazing.

btw, if you're not a starbucks person, coffee mate makes a wonderful peppermint mocha creamer.

sidenote: i'm interviewing with perot again today (face-to-face), so we'll see how that goes. the new thing is "behavioral interviewing" which is basically when they say "tell me about a time you displayed such and such skill or solved such and such problem or dealt with such and such situation..." For somebody without a lot of experience, coming up with relevant answers without making something up isn't always easy

you can start praying now

as some of you know, i've been worrying about finding a job since i graduate in december and am currently unemployed with not a whole lot of "real" work experience (apparently always being employed doesn't count if it isn't applicable). anyway, i went to a job fair at the end of september and since then have interviewed with one company (HMS) twice- an introductory interview with the hiring manager and a follow up behavioral interview with the senior vice president- and had a phone interview today with another company (Perot) with a behavioral one scheduled for next week that will determine if i get a face-to-face interview. my problem is that if (and that is a big if) HMS offers me a job, i may want to work for Perot but won't be through the interviewing process. i want a job but i also want the right job. i don't want to give up an opportunity for something that doesn't pan out nor do i want to get stuck somewhere when i'd fit better somewhere else. as usually, i'm doing the whole over-analyze/freak-out before anything actually happens. i know God is in control and has a perfect plan (He always does) but please pray that things will work themselves out and i'll end up where i'm supposed to be and have a peace about it. in the meantime, i need to focus on getting through school. 60 days til graduation. which seems like a long time, but there is so much to get done before then.

quote of the week:
we took brock and brax to the football game on friday and grandpa random parked as usual to the embarrassment of all, but grandma and i didn't say anything, just kind of grumbled. instead, brock pipes up, "grandpa, there is something wrong with you." he paused and then added, "i need to disguise myself."
ahahaha... the kid is hilarious... not sure where he comes up with these things, but he has a way of saying what everyone else is thinking.

The mayonnaise jar and 2 cups of coffee

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous "yes."

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty spaces between the sand. The students laughed.

"Now," said the professor as the laughter subsided, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things-- your family, your children, your health, your friends, and your favorite passions-- and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter, like your job, your house, and your car.

The sand is everything else-- the small stuff. If you put the sand in the jar first, there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you.

Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Spend time with your children. Spend time with your parents. Visit with grandparents. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first-- the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled and said, "I'm glad you asked."

"The coffee shows you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend."

funday friday

since my birthday (and thus megan and phil's) was on thursday and i had to be at school for 8 hours, i had my fun on friday. first, mom and i went to the state fair. i love the fair! we saw some attractions (by the way, no amount of money could ever get me to climb to the top of a sway pole and do a handstand), ate unhealthy food, and did pretty much whatever we wanted. however, there are no pictures since my camera is at ry's house and i keep forgetting to get it.



then, lindsey came into town from okc so maria/jayme had a little get together and we went and karaoked . tons of fun: i love my friends!! i stole a few pics from maria so this post wouldn't be totally boring.




i'm not sure why this picture is so small



some of the girls: lindsey, becky, kamini, maria, me



maria and me




maria and bill.. i promise there were boys than bill there

lindsey, jayme, me... we try to see how many faces we can squeeze in a picture

lindsey and me... luv her!

group shot minus boys

maria, becky, me cheesin'

yoda (the dog) likes to have fun too

someday...

someday when i have some guts, i want my hair to look like this:






however, i have a feeling it wouldn't look like this on me.

btw, i love her new song. if you haven't heard it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgJly74APRE

seriously??

i was teaching texas history on wednesday and had the following conversation with a seventh grader...

me: "just so you know, native americans are from america and indians are from india."
student: "then why did columbus name them indians?"
me: "because columbus thought he was in india."
student: "but columbus discovered america."
me: "yes, but columbus discovered america by accident. he was searching for the west indies when he got lost and landed in america."
student:"how did columbus get lost? he had a map"

ummmm....no.... i don't know who in elementary school failed you child, but columbus did not have a map

tri two

on sunday mom and i did the prairiman sprint triathlon. i took the camera in my transition bag but never got around to taking pictures, mostly because before the tri it was dark and afterwards i looked pretty nasty. i'm debating whether or not to put the link to the official race pictures on here because if i do you get to see all of them, not just the one that looks half-way athletic. anyway, i got first in my division and mom got third in hers. not too bad! i think my time was faster than the last tri i did, but i didn't write down my times last time so i don't know for sure.

this is the first time since high school that i haven't had a job and not only is my bank account rapidly shrinking, i think i may go out of my mind with boredom. i thought i could be one of those people who sits at home all day alternating between watching tv and reading, but come to find out, i'm not. i'm finally starting to fill up my calendar with some things so hopefullly time won't go so slow.

just in case you want to mark your calendars

I GRADUATE DECEMBER 20TH
**pending i pass all my classes

oh, and my first day of school outfit looked good... white linen pants with a white and purple top, but no picture cause i felt like a huge dork asking my mom to take a picture... and i definitely got chocolate on the white pants, but luckily i was on my way home when it happened so nobody saw but me

FDOS

First Day of School.
Why is the first day of school so important? Is it because first impressions last so long even though they are so often wrong? I remember agonizing over my first day of school outfit every year(until i went to pantego and it was "hmmm, which pair of plaid shorts to wear?"). As a kid, we always got a new pair of school shoes and a new backpack every year and I would search for the perfect ones. Anyway, I guess my point is that things don't really change that much. Today is the first day of school (for like the hundreth time) and I have debated for days over what to wear. In the grand scheme of things, nobody cares but me. But, I even almost bought a new backpack last week-- luckily the logical side of me that says it is a waste to get a backpack to carry once a week for four months is ridiculous.

dessert

i know, two posts in two days is unheard of, but i wanted to share these before i forgot.
i love dessert and the one thing that i hate about dieting is having to give up dessert (or at least the good tasting ones). well, i have found two really good "diet" desserts that are super quick and easy so i thought i'd share:

the first recipe is from weight watchers. it probably took me three minutes to throw everything together. don't worry if you don't like coffee, you can't taste it. these are so good braxton cried when i wouldn't let him have a third one.

Dark Chocolate Cookies
1 (18.25-ounce) package devil's food cake mix
1/4 cup strong brewed coffee (at room temperature)
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1 tablespoon water
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup chocolate minichips

1. preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl. beat with a mixer at medium speed 2 minutes, stopping to scrape down sides. stir in chocolate minichips
3. drop by level tablespoons 2 inches apart on baking sheets. bake at 350 degrees for 11 minutes or just until set.

this second recipe is from the south beach diet and makes an individual serving. it is definitely healthier than the cookies but still tastes good. once again it only took a couple minutes to make.

Peanut Butter Delight
1/2 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
1 tablespoon natural peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 packet sugar substitute

1. process all ingredients in blender until smooth
2. chill and serve

where did summer go??

even though it feels like i just started my internship yesterday, the ten weeks is over (actually, it was over last week, i just didn't post cause i'm lazy/busy). i really enjoyed working at vought even though working 35 hour weeks made me realize i don't really like working real world hours (but part of that could have been that after work i had to study every day so it seemed like longer days). my mom informed me nobody does and that i have to suck it up. also, i realized that i don't really want to climb the corporate ladder; i'd rather start halfway up. i was once again informed that nobody wants to and it is something you just have to do. all in all i learned a lot and really enjoyed the experience. i was hoping they would hire me, but there is not currently a job position available. however, maybe in four to six months. it is just something i'm going to have to pray about since God knows where he wants me. in the meantime i'm planning on substitute teaching for some money while i finish school. my last semester starts on thursday. Praise the Lord! the end is in sight. I know i just started my masters but i'm ready to be done. in case you couldn't tell, patience isn't really my virtue (but i'm working on it).
in other news, one of my professors emailed me to tell me that he recommended me to health planning systems (a health care consulting firm that works with UTSouthwestern medical center) for two of their job openings. one is a senior financial analyst position and the other is is a strategic planning analyst. i would love either job. another thing to pray about.

basically, keep me in your prayers that i would find the perfect job (if there is such a thing) and that while i'm waiting i would rely on God since He is in control. i have a slight issue with feeling like i have no marketable skills-- even though deep down i know i do-- and am afraid that nobody will want to hire me--which they will (i hope). i know God has a plan, I just sometimes wish He would put it on a neon sign for me. but i guess that would defeat the whole purpose of faith.

i went to oklahoma with a friend this weekend to visit one of my besties (and forgot my camera, of course). suffice it to say that we had a great time. it was really nice to just chill and relax since i really haven't gotten to do that all summer. i'm going to miss living five feet away from them and seeing them every day.

i'm still training for the half marathon and am getting kind of paranoid about running longer distances. in the past it would have been no big deal for me to just crank out the mileage, but i haven't seriously run in a while. the race isn't until december and my training program should have me prepared by november, so i'm planning on taking it slow and repeating weeks if i have to. really, i need to just quit worrying about it and run.

lastly, i LLOOVVEE the olympics. i would watch them 24 hours a day if i could. as it is i've watched them way too much. i think it would be really interesting to do a study on the amount of productivity in the world during the olympic games. my guess is that it plummets. also, i've decided that it would be cool to walk/jog around the great wall of china. since it is just over 4,000 miles long i could do ten miles a day for 400 days, which would take me just over a year to complete. maybe someday...

RODEO

a couple weeks ago brock and brax came for a sleepover while nate and ry celebrated their six year anniversary, so we took them to the rodeo. i love the rodeo! however, i was slightly disappointed because my absolutely most favorite thing is steer wrestling and for some reason i'll never understand they didn't have it. anyway, on to the pictures:

traditional pic of megan and i:

YAY!:

so excited! (btw, i need to practice this pose, megan is a lot better at it):

the only picture brock would take all night. every time a bull came out of the shoot he demanded i take a picture of it, but wouldn't let me take any more of him:


this bull would NOT move. it must have taken them a good five minutes to get him out of the ring:

precious braxton:

how can you resist this sweet face?:

chuckwagon races are greatness:

fun, fun:


team roping. they weren't very good:

brock got tired of his hat so megan borrowed it. fits pretty well:

braxton gave me his. yes, i almost have the same size head as a one-year-old:

phil and haley:

cowboy poker. the last one sitting at the table gets money. please note there are at least two cowboys and a table in this picture along with the three clowns:



in other news, the internship is going well. i'm working way more than i am supposed to be and i could really use a paycheck, but i'm enjoying it. i'm definitely ready to graduate. only five more months of school. lastly, i've decided to run the white rock 1/2 marathon in december. let the training begin.

update coming sometime

i have pictures from the rodeo last friday but i'm to tired/busy to actually upload them and post them right now. but, they will come....sometime...

top five lessons i've learned this week

in no particular order:

1. don't ride your bicycle in the dark. or if you do, watch where you are going
2. make sure the water bottle is fully closed before throwing it in the gym bag with the cell phone
3. if you're holding the window on your car up with tape and you live in texas, the tape will melt to the window
4. being a girl in a work environment dominated by men has its advantages
5. let it go

Aunt Awesome

i'm trying it out as my new name. i think it is better than aunt amanda. of course, when brock is being silly he calls me auntie mandi. anyway, being the amazingly fun aunt i am, when i babysat on thursday brock decided to put on a special outfit (the picture of the back is equally hilarious, but ry won't let me post it):
brock showing off his muscles... i'm sure he'll appreciate this when he is in high school

Precious, but ornery, braxton

brotherly love

popscicles are our thing.

and since i'm an aunt, not a mom, we eat popscicles in our underwear

wrestling is our second favorite thing to do, losing only to playing airplane (which will one day cause me to go into cardiac arrest if brock gets much heavier)

me and brockers

and of course brax had to have a turn

concert

this picture was probably taken before i was born:

anyway, the point is, i went to a rick springfield concert on friday night. if you don't know who that is, he is the guy who sang "jessie's girl" back in 1981. i was a little worried since the 18 or so other people that i went with were all about 15 years older than me. but, i had a whole lot of fun. and i got to grab his hand when he stood in a chair that was right in front of where we were. by the way, he is 59 now and still looks good (had somebody not told me, i would have never guessed he was that old).

internship

friday was my last day at emler. it will be nice to not have dry skin and a constant chlorine smell.
i started at cooper yesterday. here are a few quick things that have happened:
--yesterday was spent listening to some really good speakers: for example, coach phil tyne (runs the tom landry center at baylor, was a strength coach for the chargers for 10 years), t.l. mitchell (coo of cooper who has written a couple of books on leadership and how it relates to fitness), the head nutrition of cooper, and the ceo of cooper concepts.
-- i met dr. cooper yesterday. a couple facts about him: besides his world famous clinic/research center/aerobic center, he has been asked to be the surgeon general three times, he is the reason that lays now has baked chips with no saturated fat, and he is not only responsible for getting p.e . put back into texas schools, but made it required that they all have fitness tests and then he funded the effort
--i not only got cooper polos, but i also got a nametag, security badge for vought, a parking space, an office, and a computer. that may seem dorky to you, but it makes me feel official
--i've learned a whole ton of information in the last two days
-- i'm going to be incredibly busy and have tons of responsibilities, which make me excited, but also nervous.. apparently i will be working with my supervisor on his projects but also doing my own
--i am destined to get lost at least once. vought is HUGE. literally, fifty buildings. the first rule i learned was to always carry my cell phone so when i get lost i can call for directions

** statistic of the day: 1 OUT OF EVERY 3 KIDS BORN IN THE YEAR 2000 WILL HAVE DIABETES**

p.a. banquet

all of the peer advisers (greeks, romans, vikings):
the inagural viking staff (first ever peer advisers outside of phase 8):
with our horns:
hopefully this picture will be on the utd wall of immortality (yes, i made history):
in the picture, starting in the back row left- nakul, brian, ryan, pam, kamini, sarah, lindsey, samar, sneha, kate, me

my report card

CourseTitle FinalGrade

ORGANIZATION BEHAVIOR A

NEGOTIATION & DISPUTE RESOLUTION A

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT A

no more school

for a couple weeks at least. yesterday i had my last final of the semester. not being able to study at my apartment, i decided to go to the library and study. i got to the library and realized that i had only brought study materials and not the binder that had my scantron. so, i went home and got the scantron and headed back to the library to study. then, as i sit down to study i realize i didn't bring a pencil to write on the scantron with. so, i had to go to the bookstore and buy a pencil. however, even with my absent mindedness and lack of studying i dominated my final.

afterwards i went to barnes and noble and bought these two things: if you haven't read the former i definitely recommend it and if the latter makes me a nerd, i don't care it makes me happy.

pretty cool

Opponents carry injured home-run hitter around bases

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - With two runners on base and a strike against her, Sara Tucholsky of Western Oregon University uncorked her best swing and did something she had never done, in high school or college. Her first home run cleared the center-field fence.
But it appeared to be the shortest of dreams come true when she missed first base, started back to tag it and collapsed with a knee injury.
She crawled back to first but could do no more. The first-base coach said she would be called out if her teammates tried to help her. Or, the umpire said, a pinch runner could be called in, and the homer would count as a single.
Then, members of the Central Washington University softball team stunned spectators by carrying Tucholsky around the bases Saturday so the three-run homer would count - an act that contributed to their own elimination from the playoffs.
Central Washington first baseman Mallory Holtman, the career home run leader in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, asked the umpire if she and her teammates could help Tucholsky.
The umpire said there was no rule against it.
So Holtman and shortstop Liz Wallace put their arms under Tucholsky's legs, and she put her arms over their shoulders. The three headed around the base paths, stopping to let Tucholsky touch each base with her good leg.
"The only thing I remember is that Mallory asked me which leg was the one that hurt," Tucholsky said. "I told her it was my right leg and she said, 'OK, we're going to drop you down gently and you need to touch it with your left leg,' and I said 'OK, thank you very much."'
"She said, 'You deserve it, you hit it over the fence,' and we all kind of just laughed."
"We started laughing when we touched second base," Holtman said. "I said, 'I wonder what this must look like to other people."'
"We didn't know that she was a senior or that this was her first home run," Wallace said Wednesday. "That makes the story more touching than it was. We just wanted to help her."
Holtman said she and Wallace weren't thinking about the playoff spot, and didn't consider the gesture something others wouldn't do.
As for Tucholsky, the 5-foot-2 right fielder was focused on her pain.
"I really didn't say too much. I was trying to breathe," she told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Wednesday.
"I didn't realize what was going on until I had time to sit down and let the pain relax a little bit," she said. "Then I realized the extent of what I actually did."
"I hope I would do the same for her in the same situation," Tucholsky added.
As the trio reached home plate, Tucholsky said, the entire Western Oregon team was in tears.
Central Washington coach Gary Frederick, a 14-year coaching veteran, called the act of sportsmanship "unbelievable."
For Western Oregon coach Pam Knox, the gesture resolved the dilemma Tucholsky's injury presented.
"She was going to kill me if we sub and take (the home run) away. But at the same time I was concerned for her. I didn't know what to do," Knox said.
Tucholsky's injury is a possible torn ligament that will sideline her for the rest of the season, and she plans to graduate in the spring with a degree in business. Her home run sent Western Oregon to a 4-2 victory, ending Central Washington's chances of winning the conference and advancing to the playoffs.
"In the end, it is not about winning and losing so much," Holtman said. "It was about this girl. She hit it over the fence and was in pain, and she deserved a home run."

life

between school and work life has been kind of crazy, but things should be winding down soon. the only big thing that has happened is that i decided to graduate in december. VERY EXCITING!! other things that came along with that decision were: resigning as senior peer adviser for next year and moving back to arlington at the end of may.

how did the triathlon go?

not too bad:
by the way, that is second place in my division, not second place overall. i'm not that good.
in case you don't remember, last saturday it was 43 degrees outside when we got into the canal to swim. anyway, considering i hadn't trained and wasn't sure i could actually finish, it went well.

apparently, we're pretty good

President David Daniel invites you to join in celebrating the victoryof UT Dallas' national championship collegiate chess team.With the historic two-time win of the "Final Four" of chess in Baltimore on Sunday, as well as successive Pan-American titles,UT Dallas has retained unprecedented bragging rights forthe U.S. and Western Hemisphere collegiate chess titles.

i'm still not quite sure how this happened...

"playtri sprint tri, april 12th, 7 am"

somehow mom and mary convinced me to do a triathlon this coming saturday. a few things to take note of: it is less than one week away and i have not trained at all and am NOT IN SHAPE, it is at 7am, and mary does half marathons as warmups and has about 2% body fat. so, while a little part of me is excited, the rest of me is completely terrified.

yesterday mom, dad and i did the tour dallas bike tour, which we will never do again. besides having to ride really slow and being scared of crashing, it was semi-fun. there were three major crashes right next to each other and i wanted to take pictures, but i didn't. we did see some really nice houses and some really pretty flowers. **insert awesome untaken picture here**
on the other hand, some friends and i went to the harbor yesterday (it is a newish shopping center/riverwalk thingy at lake ray hubbard) and katherine took tons of pictures. as soon as she uploads them i'll steal some to post.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!

on march 21st there was a fire in the apartment building across from mine. the paper came out with an article yesterday and here are a couple quotes:
"The cigarette that alledgedly caused the fire may have been placed in a crack in the wall on the patio of the unit where the fire reportedly started, where it ignited other cigarettes already in the wall." yes, my friends, they were discarding their cigarettes in the column supporting the balcony
"Polomba said fire response was especially quick for this incident because one of his units saw the smoke while returning from another call." can you say lucky?
"According to WP's records, the persons occupying the unit where the fire began were not on the lease." seriously?

in other news, utd has decided to keep the name comets, but scrap the mascot temoc since he looks like a flaming sperm and his name is comet spelled backward. below are pictures of the four new choices to replace him with: a greyhound named sirius, a robot named nano, a flaming man named scorch, or an astronaut named cosmo. under the pictures is a clip of the accompanying article. a couple questions immediately come to mind: why replace a disliked mascot with one that is worse? is there anybody with any sense of normalacy in the group responsible for this? why can't we simply be the comets?

"I like the idea of being able to partner with the Greyhound Rescue Society," Hinkley said. "We'd be doing a good thing there, too." really? we have the facilities to take care of greyhounds?
"To Peterson the greyhound is the most lovable, while the robot is the just the opposite.
"I didn't really like the robot because I think it's difficult to love a robot," Peterson said. "It's difficult to hug a robot and you can't really image a robot jumping up and down and really exciting people because it's confined to certain motions, at least if it's a realistic robot." when was the last time you hugged/loved a greyhound? when was the last time you saw a greyhound jumping up and down and exciting people? is lovable even the image we want to convey?

and someone has been stealing bras out of the laundry center.

people who don't know how to play soccer should not be allowed to wear cleats.