More on the whole Obama thing

Number one I'm getting sick of hearing about Obama's pastor, former pastor, spiritual adviser or whatever he is. People can say what they want about that man doing good works in Chicago blah,blah,blah...Great. He did some good things, but I'm not convinced that this man is a man of integrity or character. Barrack Obama is all the time talking about how words are important. I will hand it to him, that he is an excellent orator. He can get the masses of people all stirred up with emotion. His words are all about change. (change of what and how things will change is still yet to be determined.) I do just have one more thing to say and then I guess I'll let it go. How can Obama say that he went to a church for 20 YEARS and didn't know what kind of man his pastor is? He was married by this man, his children were baptized by this man, he attended services where this man preached. Obama so much liked one of his sermons that he used it in one of his books. Yet, he didn't know that the pastor felt the way he did? He didn't know this when he put pastor Wright on his spiritual advisory committee? I mean what is the deal with that? Now he wants to repudiate what this guy has to say. I think that the issue has become to hot for Barrack to handle...he doesn't want to get burned so he NOW doesn't agree with pastor Wright. I mean I think it is probably politically savy of him to distance himself from a man who has such hateful words for our country. I believe there is a lot to say about the company that a man keeps. Who he surrounds himself with tells us volumes.

I know I can...I know I can...

Many of you know I'm currently a consultant for Arbonne International. It is my second career, my first one being an elementary special education teacher. In my teens I knew that I wanted to work with people that have specific challenges. I did that for 17 years and like to believe that I made a positive difference in the lives of many, many children and their parents. Now I'm a home schooling mom of my own three. (they each have their own specific challenges too--just not quite as obvious, haha.) Along with my job of being a wife and mom, I've now chosen to take on the challenge of being an independent consultant for one of the most exciting network marketing companies out there today. I'm really excited about it. I was talking with my sister in law (also a consultant) earlier today and she told me that she read that there are 1.3 million consultants, but only 2500 that made it to the top so far (VP status). So I was thinking about that statistic....what is it that makes some people succeed beyond their wildest dreams while others fall to the way side only to say in years to come "oh, I used to do that." Everyone has dreams. I think a lot of people put their dreams in a drawer, they visit those dreams occasionally and think how great it would be if they could have that dream become a reality. Then life happens. They get tired. The dreams begin to fade. They choose to give up. What is it that the top consultants have? What makes them different? They have the same ups and downs as everyone else. They get told no. People don't show for presentations. They want to give up.....but they don't. I think that is it. I think the top consultants wanted their dreams so badly that they wouldn't allow anything to stand in their way. They didn't give up AND they didn't quit. They didn't allow themselves to even entertain that thought. That's a good lesson for life, isn't it? About not giving up. Life throws you a punch, pick yourself back up and keep moving. Be resilient. After all, dreams are made to be lived, not kept in drawers. Go dust yours off. You're not a quitter.

Obama's Pastor

I'm watching FOX news this morning. They are discussing the inflammatory sermons (?) from the man that is pastor of Obama's (former?) church. I cannot believe that the Lord condones the hateful speech that comes out of this man's mouth. Color has very little to do with it...Just because this man is black and leads a black congregation does not give him the right to speak hate, or crudeness. (I'm referring to his crude comment about Bill Clinton "riding dirty". I believe Bill Clinton was wrong but the pulpit is certainly not the place to discuss that!) To proclaim, "God, damn this country!" Now, how is that edifying to the congregation? I think someone who stands in a pulpit and proclaims to be a speaker of God's word will be held accountable for the things that he speaks.....if not by people, then eventually by the Lord himself. Jesus Christ was mocked, jeered at, and despised by his own people, yet he never sinned. He lived a blameless life. It is my personal belief that Jesus was not a fair skinned blue eyed man when he walked this earth. He was a middle eastern, Jewish man. I'm sure he had darker skin and hair. If he was here today I'm sure he would probably have people to treat him poorly because of his appearance and nationality, but I do not believe he would have ever spoken hateful words to them. He would have spoken from a loving heart for people who did not even deserve His love. This whole thing is a reminder to me of how desperately we all need the Lord...whether we are a controversial pastor, a teacher, a business man or a stay at home mom.

Paying Bad Teachers To Quit

So have you all heard about the group, The Center of Union Facts, that is willing to pay the 10 worst teachers $10,000 each to quit? Of course, the teachers unions are against that. (What's new?) As a former teacher I have to tell the truth. I know for a fact that there ARE bad teachers out there. I had to deal with some of them. One in particular would be late to work continually...not 5 or 10 minutes....like an hour or two. No kidding. The principal called her and she said she overslept and was currently going through the bank drive through and would be at school in a few minutes. Can you believe it? This same teacher fell asleep during a reading group and was actually SNORING! I could go on and on but you get the picture. Documentation was even kept on this teacher, but because she had tenure it was impossible to fire her! She just got shuffled around from school to school in the system when the current staff got tired of her. To beat it all she was a SPECIAL ED co-worker. The kids she had in her care weren't able to learn IN SPITE of her. She did them a terrible disservice. For those of us that were hard working teachers it was extremely frustrating to watch her sit on her duff, and collect a paycheck for sub par work. So I am for getting rid of the worst teachers out there. I for one will be interested to find out who these people are. I hope they sign a contract, take the $10,000 and leave the teaching profession forever. As far as I am concerned good riddance to bad rubbish. Teaching is an honorable field---our kids deserve the best, it's about time they got it. Anything to help that along is a good thing.

Sniffling and Snuffling

We all have colds. The boys have it worse then the rest of us. They have yucky coughs AND stuffed up heads. There is a lot of hacking and gagging going on at our house. We also are going through truckloads of tissue. Listening to someone blow a full nose is gross, but surprisingly enough I've gotten used to it. I can even eat my breakfast while Kendrick blows. I suppose that is a mom thing....after awhile nothing phases me. We gave the boys medicine last night to help with the symptoms--so they could breathe last night. (Well, maybe I should rephrase that and say breathe BETTER....after all they CAN breathe, abeit more loudly then usual.) Also Scott and I have informed them that they need lots of rest. Yesterday we had our dentist appts. and I visited/delivered Arbonne samples. I also made several phone calls. I don't have to be out as much today. I think it will be a school/laundry/clean house/take care of the sick kind of day. I don't have to get dressed up. This means I get to wear my cool, new PJ bottoms. They are pink, red, and white polka dotted lounge pants. (Think 1970's wild prints.) Hey, at least if I'm doing loads of laundry I can be comfortable if not fashionable. Excuse me please, I think I need a tissue.....

Which Dawn Do You Like Best?

Cruzin' Dawn: Me and My Girls Cruisin' In The Benz



Sleek, Sporty Dawn: Who is that blonde in the Mercedes?


Sedate Sedan Dawn: Mercedes Soccer Mom

I'm baaaccckkkk......

Wow. I haven't blogged in a while. Today's blog is dedicated to Jessica Brock who asked when I was going to blog again? She wanted to know what was going on with me----what makes that so funny is that I spent the past week and a half at HER house. She KNEW what was going on, but she just missed my blog. haha.

I spent the past week and a half visiting family members in the Lone Star State. The family had a lot of fun spending time together. Even though there were a lot of us packed into one house we didn't kill each other AND we managed to have a great time too! Thanks goes out to Jessica and her family for putting up with the Gibson crew. East Texas saw severe rain, heat, sunny days, cool gray days, and even some snow/sleet. All this weather in just one week. Reminds me of East Tennessee!!! It's like the weather can't decide what it wants to do. (on a side note---my mom sent me an article about the 20.3 inches of snow that Columbus, Ohio received. Columbus is about an hour southeast of where we will be moving. Hmmm....I guess we can be expecting some snow next year?)

I spent some of my time doing Arbonne presentations while in Texas. I had a good time. It was both productive and fun. The piece de resistance' (did I spell that correctly? Is that a french expression?) was Arbonne's Mercedes Test Drive weekend. When I obtain the Regional VP title I get a white Mercedes. That is a pretty good deal, huh? Anyway, Jessica, Brittany and I went for a little spin in a sporty convertible Mercedes. That was fun, though I must admit at first I was nervous about driving a car that wasn't mine in an area that I was unfamiliar with. It was worth it though....we had a blast. Scott also took pictures of me sitting in a bunch of different Mercedes. Sporty Dawn. Sleek Dawn. Family Sedan Dawn. Tough SUV Dawn. I'm including a few pic's for your enjoyment.