I know the drill.  You woke up today with a million things to knock off your to-do list.  Me too.

Write post for House of Shine; Grocery shop for house guests; swap out laundry; pick up birthday present for later today; birthday party at 2:00; sort through growing stacks of mail; spend 30 minutes preparing for a meeting tomorrow morning; pack overnight bag and drop boys off at grandmas; meet friends for dinner at 6:00.

You must add one more thing to your list.  You must.

Take 10 minutes and send this week's recipient of the Yellow Envelope Project a short note.

Not convinced?

Then, add one more thing to your list.  Click on this website and spend 5 minutes (even 2 minutes) tooling around.

I will get to what the nominator had to say about this week's recipient in a minute, but first I have to say, I am so impressed.  I am so impressed that tears are welling up in my eyes as I write this post.  How does this young mother who must accept all the responsibilities of caring for a terminally ill child have the time and emotional energy to create such a beautiful website?

I don't mean beautiful as in graphically impeccable (though the site looks terrific).  I mean beautiful as in full of life and love and devotion.  The site seeps of the love she has for her family.

Still think you are too busy to encourage the strength, and beauty of this woman?

Then one more thing.  Read what her nominator had to say:

"Susie is Roman's mom. That's what they call her on all the websites Susie frequents, offering support-and much needed humor to other families affected by a fatal neuromuscular disease called Spinal Muscular Atrophy. SMA is the #1 genetic killer of children under the age of two. Unfortunately, he has type one which is the most severe form. However, Roman just celebrated his third birthday on May 11th! I truely believe that milestone was reached because he wasn't aware he was fatally diagnosed due to his mother's unfailing dedication to her child. While many people would question, "why us?" when given the horrible prognosis, Susie and her husband Matt just fought harder! Roman is in preschool, on a baseball team and just got back from an SMA conference in California! (We live in Ky!) Never once has Susie let Roman think that he is limited in any capacity, even though he is on a ventilator and will never walk or possibly speak without a communication device. Thru it all, Susie has bent over backwards to help new families in our area understand what life could be like (rewarding and wonderful) once your child is diagnosed with SMA. She is a true inspiration to all who come in contact with her. She does EVERYTHING with her son in mind, whether it is to stop and talk to people whispering about what is "wrong" with her child (and setting them straight! haha!) to promoting community awareness about this fatal disease. If you follow the link to her website (http://our-sma-angels.com/roman/) you will get a better feel for Susie, Roman and their life together. Please consider her for your yellow envelope project as I am sure there will never be a more deserving recipient. Thank you."

Ten minutes and $0.44.  That's all it will take.  Surely you can squeeze that into your weekend.

Here's how:  Write Susie a short note telling her why you think she shines.  Is it her devotion to family? The willingness to take time educating strangers about SMA?  Her positive attitude or her drive to raise money for this cause?  Or is it the fact that Susie is uncompromising in the way she exposes Roman to all the joys of being three years old?  Pick one or create your own bottomless list.

Seal your note in a yellow envelope (or a white envelope decorated with yellow markers and stickers).  Place the words, "Yellow Envelope Project" in the return address and send it to the address listed below.  Commit to mailing the letter sometime before next Saturday when we meet again in order to recognize our next worthy recipient.

One more thing.  Check "Yellow Envelope Project" off your to-do list and then revel in the GREAT feeling you get to enjoy for the rest of today.

Shining off until Monday...