thas' some crazy shit...

DALLAS -- A muffin mystery is surfacing at a North Texas school after a group of teachers who ate muffins possibly laced with dangerous ingredients were taken to a hospital Tuesday.

Three teachers and 15 support personnel at Lake Highlands High School were complaining of nausea and lightheadedness after eating the muffins at a staff lounge in what appears to be a deliberate incident.

"In talking to the staff members who were not feeling well, the common thread has been, they believe, traced to some muffins from the staff lounge," said school spokesman Tim Clark.

School surveillance video captured images of a man in his late teens or early 20s bringing the muffins to the school at about 8:15 a.m., NBC 5 News reported.


The FBI came to the school to test for a possible chemical or biological attack.

The daughter of an 86-year-old receptionist taken to Presbyterian Hospital said her mother tested positive for Benadryl and marijuana, and said her mother had not been using either, but had eaten a muffin at the school.

Only one of the victims, the receptionist, was admitted to the hospital.

The health department said tests should reveal what was in the muffins as early as Wednesday morning.

I would love to see a few of my colleagues eat these muffins. Good times, good times.
~g~

Can you tell we are related?

She is my cousin. (Ryan's niece)
I played hooky today... I had planned to take Liam to get blood work done (for his meds) but it did not happen. Instead, I ran errands w/ Brandi and Sarah - and it was nice. Among other places, we went to the "Bust Stop" ( a specialty bra store) I will not divulge Sarah's size...but it is impressive. However I found out that the cell phone we will need to get in VT is Verizon- and there is no service here, so we are still sans portable. Et alors...
Tomorrow, I am surprising Caleb by attending the awards ceremony at his school-where (among other awards) he will receive a trophy for "Outstanding 6th grade boy". Mark, Luke, my mom, and Mark's mom will all be there, and he has no clue. I cannot wait.
I know Mark is burnt out on teaching right now, so I have spent a lot of time recently looking for other kinds of jobs for him...It is kind of fun imagining him as a ski instructor (especially w/ the 'stache) Any other suggestions? We'll be close to Montpelier, so he could be a professional hippy- aka an 'artisan'. There are also a lot of farm-help openings.
Well, I am off to bed. Sweet dreams all around.
~g

beruit

For those of you who don't get to run off to Europe this summer, there's hope. Listening to Beruit and sipping wine, I feel transported to the streets of Paris. I know that sounds cliché, but I am in love with this CD. It was love at 1st listen. Here's a link where you can read more...http://www.brooklynvegan.com/archives/2006/05/and_blogod_said_let_there_be_beirut_tour_dates_mp3s_album.html

Destroyer who?

Enjoy.

~g

PS thanks Joe- you know my taste well

Prom 2006

Well, Prom 2006 was a sucess- but more importantly...it is OVER! Yeah! Mark looks hot with his new stache, too.

My days as a school teacher are in the single digits and I am wicked busy. Life is so amazing right now. I feel as if I am in a constant haze. I feel such joie de vivre. To quote Mr. Petty, "The future is still wide open."

Love and more love,

~G

PS I am trying to post more prom pix on a site...I'll keep you updated.

city of lights

2 weeks and 3 days. just does not seem right to be running off to europe at a time like this, but it IS my last official duty as a french teacher...girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. i will be there staying with amélie's mom...and dia and matt (for a week) then off to the south to see amélie for a few days, and the last week there i am taking the train to rome to see alyssa for a few days. 25 days total (mostly on paris)... i am so stoked.
*reality check*
~Alright, now I must go make my "Day before prom list of things to do"~
goodnight,
g

Un grand merci

I just want to send a thank you shout out to these two lovely ladies (and of course Isabelle ) for their support over the past several months. Now that my decision is final, my family is still less than supportive, (a tad angry in fact) but I know I have made the right decision. I also know that if I had settled and gone to TU, I would have had these two to answer to, and that was motivation for me to really do what I should do. I would not have been able to defend my motives nor justify actually going to law school if that had happened. I owe you both so much, and I want to thank you. I am sure I will need your services in the years to come as well... so I will thank you in advance. As for Isabelle, you are adorable and I hope one day you will look at the wildly successful women around you and know that you are capable of great things. But or now, just be cute and hopefully you will learn to pee-pee in the potty without a lot of accidents.
Happy Thursday.
~g
PS I know this is not the best pic, but Mark is not the best photographer- so I have to work with what I have.... the story of my life.

It is official...

Guess where we are moving...? I am SO excited. It is nice to be sure. I am so at peace with this decision. It feels right. It helps that I found out today that I did not get into Hastings...that just confirms what I have been feeling- and I am okay with it. My cousin (who went to Hastings) told me to go to the best school I can and get the best grades I can, and that is what I plan to do. VLS is not on the top 100 elite list, but it is consistently ranked #1 or #2 on environmental law. In fact, Hastings has a program where they send their EL students to VLS. I am still not sure what I will end up studying, but they have everything I could want. Plus, I feel confident Mark and the kids will be happy there. YEAH! We are going to buy snow shoes! Woot!
Hugs,
g

n'importe quoi

Ok so it did not rain last week-end when our garage sale was rained out, (as evidenced in this photo of us window shopping on 15th St.) yet it poured today, when we had the sale. I might also mention that it was freaking cold. En plus, I missed the protests. Oh well...I made some spending money for France and got rid of some crap I was storing at my mom's.
I am really getting excited about school ending, going to France, and moving to Vermont. I am 95% sure now that is where we will be. I got my loan pre-approval this week and it all seems to be falling in place nicely. I go to the web-site daily and look at the housing lists, course description, faculty bios, etc....I think I have read it all twice. If you want to be a nerd like me, you can check it out at http://www.vermontlaw.edu/ Good times.
So 1 more week until prom...I am just not that worried about it. It will feel good to get it done. (One last time!) I am sure we will have lots of pix to post next weekend.
Have I mentioned how much I love the latest Destroyer album? I listened to some of it once or twice when it came out, but Mark burned the whole thing for me...and I love every song. It is worth listening to more than once- I like it more with each listen.
A student turned me on to this video on Google, I am sure most of you know about it (I did not) and it explores some conspiracy theories on 9/11- we don't hear much about on the news (even NPR). I have not had a chance to watch the entire documentary, but I will tomorrow. The scenes I have seen are disturbing, but I feel I need to see the whole movie just the same. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8260059923762628848
I took tickets at our showing of "Ten Little Indians" last night and it was fabulous. I really like Agatha Christie. Went out have a beer and play shuffle board w/ some of the guys apres- and won both games. :0) Torchy's is kind of a scary place, I have to say. Two of the guys with us are gay, and some lovely lady named "Sharon Peters" offered to fuck them all for a drink. Then she grabbed the one straight guy's crotch and told me I was "shit-out-a-luck". A gentleman named Randy who was recently released from Mays County prison came over to show us his new tatoos- but I was deeply disappointed to see that he was wearing Crocs. He told one of the more flamboyant members of our group that "Gays is welcome 'round here". We were not sure if that was a pick-up line or not. Prison+Crocs+Welcoming Gays=Me thinks Randy maybe a more than a little bi-curious. I just hope he has resolved the issue that got him into prison...whatever it was.
Well, I am going to get my kiddos ready for bed. I cannot wait to call Sarah and inform her that I got an e-mail back from Brian and he said many sweet things about her. Peace.
hugs,
~G

So simple, yet...so crazy

Kirk Cameron and his aussi friend prove once and for all (sans doute) that creationism is TRUE... by simply peeling a banana. You have to see this one to believe it.
http://www.break.com/index/kirkbanana.html

(Thank you Lisday for the link.)
g

i know what my sign wil say...

Hmm... I wonder if they still have that banner from 3 years ago? I bet somebody got fired for that one. We can hope, at least.
good night.
peace.
~g

The end is nigh!

I think Liam would fit in nicely on the streets of San Francisco, n'est-ce pas?

Prom is less than 2 weeks away, and there is still much to be done. "Under the Sea" is quickly turning into a water logged nightmare, but I have faith that we will pull it off. Most people will have fun, and some will complain no matter what we do.
It is hard not to obsess on the fact that I will be in Paris in less than a month. MUST STAY FOCUSED! Jobs, House, Law School, Kids, Bills, Dog, etc. I have plenty to think about, and even more to do. I am staying positive, relaxed, and grounded...but slowly losing my focus.
Remember- no gringos! (I realize I am a bit late on that, but it needed to be added)
love,
g

boo!

Yikes.

Monday May 1...18.5 school days left, but who is counting?

What an amazing weekend!

I am so lucky to have such amazing friends. I just wish we lived closer. It is a relief to have friends that you may not see for a while, but then is as if you see them everyday. The comfort and warmth is always there. People with whom you will always have a connection. People who know you and accept you. You never feel like you have to be on- or think of things to say...You can just be. Suddenly you realize hours have passed and you have so much more to say. Sometimes, you have to stop and take in the moment because you don't know when you will meet again.

I am still enjoying the afterglow of an afternoon well spent.

warm kisses and long hugs,

~g

XoOx