With The Great Privilege Of Being A Citizen Of This Nation Comes Great Responsibility

From Parade Magazine

On Tuesday, Barack Obama was sworn in as our 44th President. On this historic occasion, PARADE asked the President-elect, who is also a devoted family man, to get personal and tell us what he wants for his children. Here, he shares his letter to them.

Dear Malia and Sasha,

I know that you've both had a lot of fun these last two years on the campaign trail, going to picnics and parades and state fairs, eating all sorts of junk food your mother and I probably shouldn't have let you have. But I also know that it hasn't always been easy for you and Mom, and that as excited as you both are about that new puppy, it doesn't make up for all the time we've been apart. I know how much I've missed these past two years, and today I want to tell you a little more about why I decided to take our family on this journey. When I was a young man, I thought life was all about me—about how I'd make my way in the world, become successful, and get the things I want. But then the two of you came into my world with all your curiosity and mischief and those smiles that never fail to fill my heart and light up my day. And suddenly, all my big plans for myself didn't seem so important anymore. I soon found that the greatest joy in my life was the joy I saw in yours. And I realized that my own life wouldn't count for much unless I was able to ensure that you had every opportunity for happiness and fulfillment in yours. In the end, girls, that's why I ran for President: because of what I want for you and for every child in this nation. I want all our children to go to schools worthy of their potential—schools that challenge them, inspire them, and instill in them a sense of wonder about the world around them. I want them to have the chance to go to college—even if their parents aren't rich. And I want them to get good jobs: jobs that pay well and give them benefits like health care, jobs that let them spend time with their own kids and retire with dignity. I want us to push the boundaries of discovery so that you'll live to see new technologies and inventions that improve our lives and make our planet cleaner and safer. And I want us to push our own human boundaries to reach beyond the divides of race and region, gender and religion that keep us from seeing the best in each other. Sometimes we have to send our young men and women into war and other dangerous situations to protect our country—but when we do, I want to make sure that it is only for a very good reason, that we try our best to settle our differences with others peacefully, and that we do everything possible to keep our servicemen and women safe. And I want every child to understand that the blessings these brave Americans fight for are not free—that with the great privilege of being a citizen of this nation comes great responsibility.
That was the lesson your grandmother tried to teach me when I was your age, reading me the opening lines of the Declaration of Independence and telling me about the men and women who marched for equality because they believed those words put to paper two centuries ago should mean something. She helped me understand that America is great not because it is perfect but because it can always be made better—and that the unfinished work of perfecting our union falls to each of us. It's a charge we pass on to our children, coming closer with each new generation to what we know America should be. I hope both of you will take up that work, righting the wrongs that you see and working to give others the chances you've had. Not just because you have an obligation to give something back to this country that has given our family so much—although you do have that obligation. But because you have an obligation to yourself. Because it is only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you will realize your true potential. These are the things I want for you—to grow up in a world with no limits on your dreams and no achievements beyond your reach, and to grow into compassionate, committed women who will help build that world. And I want every child to have the same chances to learn and dream and grow and thrive that you girls have. That's why I've taken our family on this great adventure. I am so proud of both of you. I love you more than you can ever know. And I am grateful every day for your patience, poise, grace, and humor as we prepare to start our new life together in the White House.

Love,

Dad

Inspiration For 2009

Chillin The Hills 5K /10K

We will be participating by helping out

Friday January 16 5-7pm at Purks YMCA; we will hand out race packets

Saturday January 17 7:30am Horizon Casino Levee Street Parking Lot; we will man water stations, or whatever they ask us to do.

This will be for service hours and we all need those!

There will be refreshments after the race!

We should be done by 12/noon

Wear your class A shirts and jeans (wear your long johns too it is gonna be COLD)

Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler --- Throw Me Something Mister; Time Again!

MARDI GRAS TIME!!!!!!! FEBRUARY 13TH 14TH 15TH
IT IS THAT TIME AGAIN AND THOUGHT I WOULD GET OUT A FEW DATES AND TIMES FOR YOU ALL.

WE WILL BE LEAVING THE CHURCH FEBRUARY 13TH AT 3:30PM RETURN BACK SUNDAY AFTERNOON.....

WE WILL BE STAYING AT TICKFAW STATE PARK AGAIN THIS YEAR IN CABINS 1, 6, 10

WE WILL GO BY THE SAME SCHEDULE THAT WE HAVE GONE BY THE LAST FEW YEARS
(MANDEVILLE PARADE FRIDAY NIGHT UP EARLY SATURDAY AND GET TO ST CHARLES BY NOON AND STAY UNTIL AROUND 10:00 TO 10:30)

WE NEED TO GET A IDEA OF WHO ALL IS GOING TO PLAN FOR TRANSPORTATION, MEALS ETC.... PLEASE EMAIL ME AND LET ME KNOW ....


ALSO IF ANY OF YOU HAVE WREATH OR POPCORN MONEY PLEASE TURN IN NEXT MONDAY NIGHT TO MR MIKE OR ME.

We Need A Head Count For Mardi Gras

Yes it is almost that time of year again and we need to know how many folks are going to Mardi Gras... so we can get enough cabins reserved.

Please let Mr Mike or Ms Sherri know if you are going or not!

Thanks

And

Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler!

Come On Let's Go Walking In Vicksburg

January 17, 2009

Route starts at Horizion casino and ends back there --- route takes you all through downtown Vicksburg.....

10K Run starts at 8:30 am
5K Walk starts at 8:35 am

go to http://www.mstrackclub.com/ to download an application and race information..... or stop by the YMCA on Clay for more information.

Come on come walkin with me! I hope to see you all there!

We Have The Power.....

New Year ----- New You! You CAN Do It!

5 small changes to help you lose weight

Story Highlights:

*Small changes rather than radical ones make diets more feasible

*Examples: drinking water instead of soda, using wheat instead of white flour

*By eating 100 fewer calories every day, avoid the weight gain that comes with aging

By Elizabeth CohenSenior CNN Medical Correspondent

(CNN) -- Tim Kassouf lost 45 pounds, and it all started when he got really mad at his girlfriend.Kassouf, a 24-year-old marketing manager in Baltimore, Maryland, was moaning to his beloved that he'd gained weight recently. He was worried. The men in his family are prone to heart attacks, and his grandfather died of one at age 29.But instead of giving Kassouf the sympathy he expected, his girlfriend told him off."She said, 'You keep complaining about it but do nothing about it.' I was angry she said that, but she was totally right," Kassouf said.Inspired, Kassouf made radical changes in his diet."That would last about a day," he said.So he moved on to Plan B: small changes. That worked. Four years after he got mad at his girlfriend, Kassouf weighs 200 pounds, down from 245, mostly by focusing on a few parts of his diet without changing everything."What I started to realize is, it didn't have to be all or nothing," he said.There's actually a name for what Kassouf did: It's called the "small changes approach." James Hill, director of the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, is the father of the movement, and in this month's American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, he writes about how "small changes are more feasible to achieve and maintain than large changes."For Kassouf, small changes started with soda."I was probably drinking 10 Cokes a day," he said. By switching out those Cokes for water, Kassouf saved 1,400 calories a day.Then he worked on his snacking. He used to eat a 12-ounce bag of Doritos while watching television."The show would be over, and the bag would be empty," he said.Now, he takes a handful out of the bag and puts it on a plate, and that's all he eats, saving 1,350 calories a day.Kassouf said he lost about 5 pounds just by making the Coke and Doritos changes and then lost 15 more by cutting down on sweets and switching from white flour to wheat flour. Exercising helped him shed 25 more pounds.Hill said it's tough to say exactly how many calories you have to cut to lose a pound, but he encourages people to think of it this way: By eating 100 fewer calories each day, you can avoid the weight gain that comes with getting older.Most people gain a pound or two a year, he said, which can really add up. A svelte 130-pound 18-year-old could turn into an overweight 170-pound 38-year-old.Here are five ways to cut 100 calories out of your diet each day. Doing any one of them could keep you from gaining that typical pound or two a year. The first three tips are from from Kim Gorman, a registered dietitian with the University of Colorado's Center for Human Nutrition. The fourth one is from Starbucks, and the last one is from Hill.

1. Old: whole milk

New: 1 percent milk

Let's say you have milk with your cereal and then a glass of milk some other time during the day. Drinking 1 percent milk instead of whole milk saves you 100 calories.

2. Old: whole bagel

New: half a bagel

Give the other half of your bagel to a friend, and you'll save 100 calories. Depending on the size of the bagel, you could save even more.

3. Old: chocolate ice cream

New: chocolate yogurt or a Popsicle

Swap out the ice cream for the yogurt, and you're consuming 100 fewer calories. You'll save nearly that much if you have a Popsicle instead of the ice cream.

4. Old: latte made with whole milk

New: latte made with skim milk

Order a nonfat latte instead of a regular latte, and you'll save 90 calories.

5. Old: be a couch potato

New: take a 20-minute walk

Walk a mile every day, and you'll burn about 100 calories. Twenty minutes is an estimate of how long it takes to walk a mile; some people are slower, and others are faster. For all you pedometer wearers out there, a mile is about 2,000 steps.

It took Kassouf several years to lose 45 pounds doing the "small changes approach," but he said it's been worth the wait, because he's more likely to keep the pounds off than if he'd made big changes.By the way, Kassouf is no longer with that girlfriend who called him a complainer, but he's still grateful to her for making him snap to it and come up with a plan for losing weight.

CNN's Jennifer Pifer-Bixler contributed to this report.