• That is the number of people who await organ transplants.
• 11,906 is the number of people who received organ transplants between January and May of this year.
• 6,005 is the number of organ donors during that same time period.

Rather sobering statistics, yes?  I was chatting with a friend the other day and learned that a parent of a mutual friend is in need of an organ transplant.  The parent has been on the waiting list and was told that they need this transplant within two years, or…A sobering thought and I certainly don’t want my friend’s parent to become a different kind of statistic. 

Organ donation doesn’t have to come from one who is technically deceased.  Living donation is an option.

According to UNOS - the United Network for Organ Sharing, “the number of living organ donors is more than 6,000 per year. And one in four of these donors isn’t biologically related to the recipient.  By offering a kidney, lobe of a lung, portion of the liver, pancreas, or intestine, living donors offer their loved one or friend an alternative to waiting on the national transplant waiting list for an organ from a deceased donor.”  Bone marrow transplant is also possible for living donation – sign up at marrow.org and get the bone marrow donation facts here.

And according to Donate Life America, “A national report card prepared by Donate Life America shows an increase of 9 million donor designations over the last 18 months, bringing the total number of registered donors in the United States to nearly 80 million. Even with this great success, there is still a shortage of donors and much work to be done.”  As you can see, it is important to sign the back of your driver’s license stating you want to be an organ donor AND you sign up at Donate Life Today. 

Fact: Anyone can be a potential donor regardless of age, race, or medical history.

Fact: All major religions in the United States support organ, eye and tissue donation and see it as the final act of love and generosity toward others.

Fact: If you are sick or injured and admitted to the hospital, the number one priority is to save your life. Organ, eye and tissue donation can only be considered after you are deceased.

Fact: When you are on the waiting list for an organ, what really counts is the severity of your illness, time spent waiting, blood type, and other important medical information, not your financial status or celebrity status.

Fact: An open casket funeral is possible for organ, eye and tissue donors. Through the entire donation process the body is treated with care, respect and dignity.

Fact: There is no cost to the donor or their family for organ or tissue donation.

Fact: Signing a donor card and a driver’s license with an “organ donor” designation may not satisfy your state’s requirements to become a donor. Be certain to take the necessary steps to be a donor and ensure that your family understands your wishes.

Please make sure to mark your driver’s license, sign up at Donate Life Today, and discuss your wishes with your family.  You could save a life.

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Sunday Spotlight

• Diane Schuller at Diane Schuller Lifestyle Photography had an important post this week about posting photos online and of posting children’s photos online, especially on photo sharing sites such as flickr.  Worth a read and the photo of her dog is fantastic!
• Christopher Bloor at Christopher Bloor Photography made a switch this past week to a different blogging platform and a new template.  His new blog looks fantastic!  Excellent work, Christopher!!

I’m going to take another break from blogging.  I’ve just got way to much to do to get ready for my mom’s visit and the wedding.  This weekend didn’t go as planned, so I am even more behind than I thought I was going to be.  I’ll try to check in during my off moments.  I’ll be back in September!  Thanks for the understanding!!

It was another 100°+ day yesterday – 101° to be exact.  Too hot to work out in the yard, although I did do a weed check of the front yard.  My front yard looks awesome, by the way, with the exception of a couple of dry spots in the lawn that just won’t green up.  Ugh.

Yesterday morning the dogs got me up at 5:30 am.  On a Saturday!  I sat down at my laptop at 6:00 am fully intent on catching up on blog visits, but I remembered that I didn’t get all of the files downloaded from www.brand-ography.com that I mentioned in a post a few days ago.  I got my download started and noticed a link that sounded interesting so I went there and spent a couple of hours (yes, hours) checking it out.  It led me to someplace else where I spent an hour or so, which led me to another site and then another site, and so on and so forth.  I did manage to get a nap in there somewhere.  Anyway, I didn’t get restarted on my blog catching up until later in the evening and I didn’t completely catch up.  I will finish that today.

Tomorrow I will share some of those resources and links with you.  I think I bookmarked them all (eyeroll).

Sunday Spotlight with international flare.

• Luca Bobbiesi (aka BoB) is from Italy and he caught some spectacular light on his Memories in the Dust blog.
• Mohammadreza Rezania from Iran has some very creative portraits.  Check out My Bit Life for more inspiration.
• Olivier Jules is a master at HDR.  I’m not sure if this ocean shot is HDR or not, but I love it.  I do believe Olivier is from Italy.
• Sebastian Wahsner of cozmopics.de does a lot of portrait shots.  He always captures the intensity of the eyes.  Sepp is from Germany.

Yesterday was a first for me.  I missed posting a new image.  I usually prepare the post the night before and have it scheduled to post at a certain time the next day, but it was late and I was tired so I went to bed.  Then yesterday morning, beginning at 6:00 a.m., I started working on my laptop, trying to improve it’s performance and regain some hard drive space.  A couple of  months ago I discovered that Vista creates a duplicate of the C drive on the C drive.  Doesn’t that make a lot of sense?  It is buried in a virtual folder and it is hidden.  Google virtual disk service.  It is supposed to be a good thing, but I’m not so sure about that.  It had created a duplicate copy of files that I had either deleted months ago or moved to an external drive.  And not just files, but programs, too.  I was able to regain about 1/4 of my hard drive space.  And now to…

Sunday Spotlight

• Don at Slackwater has this image of a diner that I’ve wanted to stop at numerous times.
• Brian Chen at Brian S. Chen Photography has this lovely salvage. 
• Donna at Lemon Dingo prepares for the 4th of July.

All of today’s spotlightees are fellow Washingtonians.

Sunday Spotlight 

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• John Masters at John’s Not So Perfect Picture has been one of my regular blog stops since I first began my photoblog over a year ago.  He has wonderful black & whites, plus his Paris images are to die for if you go through his archives.
• Sherri at Pearweed has a thought provoking image this week.  Read the comments for more food for thought.
• Olivier Jules is playing with light in this weeks posts.  Such a fun idea!
• Will Williams work at Perspective Images is to die for, as in this excellent Rope’n Number 68.
• Terry Holloway at The Lake Life has one of the most gorgeous sunset captures I have seen – Paddle It. 

I’m still working on the comments issue.  If you’ve tried commenting and haven’t been able to, I do apologize.  I’ve almost got it figured out…I think.  Big thank you to Sebrina for sending me the instructional video, which helped quite a bit (but left out one important part).

I also tried catching up with blog visits yesterday, but I was also working in the yard most of  the day as well, so I didn’t make it to visit everybody yet.  I’m so sore from tackling weeds, I can hardly move.  I’ve more work to do today, including move 40 lb bags of rock.  Ugh.  I will finish catching up today, come heck or high water (I try to keep this rated PG or cleaner).   I appreciate your patience with me. =)

I apologize for all the issues with the comments.  Different template is now installed. 

Peas from the organic farm.  They look scrumptious!

Sunday Spotlight

• Liss at Memory Forever shares what makes her soul sing.  I LOVE the capture of her daughter sleeping peacefully.
• Marcie Scudder at Daily Practice has a knack for capturing that special shot, such as this Hop on Pop - it had me laughing out loud.
• Candace at Glenrosa Journeys has some fun with her fisheye lens, which really makes me kind of want one.