Start Your Week off Right

It's Monday morning. If you're like me, a good Monday morning can determine the outlook of my whole week. If I start the day with a clean kitchen, if I am patient with my kids, and if I do something kind for someone else, I'm in good shape. Today's "something kind for someone else" is extra good because it involves one of my favorite families and a cause that's dear to their hearts. And I want to invite you to "do something kind" as well.

My friend Laura, blogger extraordinaire, participates each year in the Great Strides Walk for Cystic Fibrosis. Her son Conner (the lovely figure in the orange cap above) was born with Cystic Fibrosis, but because he only has a mild form, Laura feels especially responsible for supporting other families dealing with CF — many families experience Cystic Fibrosis in a major way and don't have the time or energy to do fundraising for research. There's an excellent post about why Laura Walks here.

Laura writes: "We are very fortunate that the type of CF that Connor has (based on the combination of the two mutations) will, in all likelihood, allow him to live a full and virtually symptom-free life. Connor is followed by a pulmonologist at Columbia four times a year and we do physical therapy on his chest everyday as preventative measures.

Since Connor's diagnosis we have learned more about this life-threatening disease (today, the median age of survival for a person with CF is just over 33 years). So, even though Connor's future will most likely be healthy and bright, there are many children whose lives depend on the research and drug development that is funded by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Because relatively few people in the United States have this disease, not as much attention or money is given to research and drug development."

The Walk is this Sunday, May 20th. Laura's goal is to raise $1500 by the end of this week. She's already 40% there but she needs more help! And I can't imagine a more helpful group of people than Design Mom Readers. Any amount you can donate is wonderful, but might I suggest $10? Not enough to break a budget, but it will add up fast for CF research. Go here to donate to Cystic Fibrosis Research by joining Laura's Walk Team.



Bonus: to thank you for your contribution, Laura had a great idea. Because she is a talented scrapbooker and stationery maker, (sometimes she shares her scrapbook layouts on her blog, see some of my favorites here, here, here and here,) she has designed and made a really yummy set of cards — the very ones pictured here. Anyone who donates to her CF team this year is automatically entered to win the cards! You can read more about the stationery drawing here.



Start your week out on the right note by getting involved in this very worthy cause. Thank you in advance for your thoughtful donations. $5. $10. $100. It all adds up. Remember, the Cystic Fibrosis Walk is this Sunday, May 20th, so you only have a few days to get your donation in!

Please visit the CFF site to learn more about CF.