Death on the Ice...

It was my first shift of the game.  The game was scoreless.  The clock read 23:40.  At that time the white ice turned blood red.  It was my D partner and good friend, Quinto Vizza, who saw the bullseye on my face.  As he scrambled and tried to clear the puck out of the zone his shot was stopped by my face.  It felt like I had been hit by a shot from the stick of Zdeno Chara and not my Italian defense partner.  I dropped to the ice and thats where my memory goes blank.  I heard that TSN shut off all cameras because of the blood and gore that occurred on the ice at that moment.  Other players were seen vomiting in the bench and one goalie even barfed in his own net.  I couldn't help but feel responsible for my teammates becoming sick, but that is part of the game and I accept that. I was taken off the ice on a stretcher and flown to the hospital in a Stars Air Ambulance Helicopter.  Once at the hospital I was rushed into surgery and 6 hours and 73 zippers later I was recovering.  It was a long night, one that I can't remember but one that I won't soon forget...Im back at home recovering and I'm doing fine.  I've hired a few private Doctors to watch over me and I start with a Physiotherapist on Monday morning.  The road to recovery will be a long but necessary one.  This near fatal accident has taught me not to take this wonderful game of hockey for granted.  It almost cost me my life but I know that I will come back smarter and stronger then ever.  I want to thank my family, friends, my Davis Hockey teammates and most importantly, the fans for all the love and support. 

I've posted some pics of the accident below.  PARENTAL ADVISORY. Be warned that they are very gruesome and graphic. 

While in the ER my Doctor told me some other stories of athletes that had also gone through some painful times.  While none of them can really compare to mine I thought I should share them with you:

So here I present the 10 Most Horrific Sports Injuries Ever...not including my own near decapitation...

Remember seeing Redskins QB Joe Theismann’s leg get destroyed on Monday Night Football? Watching Giants legend Lawrence Taylor giving Theismann an extra leg joint was kind of like watching a Bea Arthur sex tape–highly disturbing, strangely compelling, and thankfully, that wasn’t us in either scene.

But most sports injuries are of the garden-variety type (think ankle sprains and groin pulls), but every once-in-a-while an athlete sustains a truly grotesque, stomach churning, pants shitting injury that, unlike a Golden Girl sex-a-thon, gets replayed on Sportscenter again…and again…and again.

Here are ten of the most horrifying sports injuries of all-time, all rated with your handy Theismann-O-Meter.

10. NAPOLEON MCCALLUM

You’re going to see a lot of football injuries on this list, with Joe Theismann’s leg being the granddaddy of them all. But McCallum’s was worse…way worse. Like Theismann’s was a hangnail compared to McCallum’s injury. After being drafted by the L.A. Raiders (yes kiddies, L.A. had the Raiders before Oakland) out of Navy, McCallum shared carries with Marcus Allen before being relegated to special teams duties. Once again, Monday Night Football is the scene for a cringeworthy leg injury. In the first game of the 1994 season, McCallum was tackled and twisted to the ground by the 49ers Ken Norton.

If you quite hadn’t figured it out, the human knee is not supposed to bend like that…ever. McCallum’s cleat had stuck in the ground, making it impossible for his leg to move, while his body was twisted like a pretzel. He suffered a complete hyperextension to his left knee, tore three ligaments, tore the calf and hamstring from the bone, and ruptured an artery. Needless to say, McCallum never played football again.

Theismann-O-Meter

9. BORJE SALMING

A ton of hockey players end their careers with so many scars that their faces resemble a Picasso painting. It’s not so bad for the more handsome of players (see Yzerman, Steve), but for those guys whose face started out looking like it was stepped on by a golf cleat, the end result of too many sticks to the grill has horrifying results.

Enter one of my childhood heroes, Borje Salming.

Salming was a Swedish defenseman who played for the Toronto Maple Leafs back in the 1970’s and ’80s. And unlike Swedish women, the men are, for lack of a better term, ass-ugly.

He looks so sad because he is hideously ugly

But Salming was a great defenseman, despite having a face like a half-chewed caramel. That is until his face was carved up by a wayward skate. In a game against the Detroit Red Wings, way back in 1986, Salming was knocked down in front of his own net. While sprawled on the ice he got a face-full of Gerard Gallant’s skate blade. The injury required facial surgery and over 200 stitches to his face, leaving him looking like this…

And countless hours of reconstructive surgery left him looking like this…

Salming retired in 1993, went into the sports underwear business (Salming Underwear…real friggin’ original), then posed nude at the age of 56 for some paintings on display at The SPORT Gallery in Toronto. Go check it out if you like old scary naked Swedish dudes.

Theismann-O-Meter

8. SID VICIOUS

Wrestling is stupid, fake, and not the least bit entertaining to anyone with a high school education. But goddamn, the moves those guys pull in that squared circle sometimes impress even me. So I find it amazing that these roided-up freakshows aren’t seriously injured more often.

Enter Sid Vicious.

Vicious has that “I will eat your children” look permanently etched on his face…which compliments his chiseled physique quite nicely. Shows you what hours in the gym, and needles in the ass will do for you. But Sid was soon to get a lesson in gravity and the unforgiving nature of the ring floor.

If you’re wondering why Sid’s boot is flopping around like that, it’s because both his fibula and tibia are busted. One of the bones actually penetrated the skin, making this a compound fracture. If that boot wasn’t on…there’s a good chance your computer screen would be covered in your own vomit.

Theismann-O-Meter

7. BRYCE FLORIE

If you’re like me, then you too were probably thinking “who the fuck is Bryce Florie?” Besides being your typical middle-of-the-road pitcher who played with multiple teams, Florie also has the distinction of nearly being decapitated in the middle of a game. In 2000, when Florie was pitching for the Red Sox, he took a line-drive to the eye off the bat of the Yankees Ryan Thompson. The scary looking incident could’ve been worse…the ball could have hit him in the nuts (thereby making his injury both frightening and hilarious).

The smash broke Florie’s orbital socket and cheekbone, and caused damage to his retina. Surgery was required to relieve the pressure in the surrounding area, thereby saving Florie’s eye.

Amazingly Florie returned to the mound a year later to pitch…making an inspiring and triumphant return to pitch once again for the Red Sox.

Who then released him after 7 games.

Theismann-O-Meter

6. TYRONE PROTHRO

Tyrone Prothro will forever be known for two things in his life–his amazing catch against Southern Mississippi (for which he won an ESPY award), and fracturing both bones in his leg in a game against the University of Florida, both of which happened while he was a star wide receiver at the University of Alabama.

If that picture doesn’t make you piss yourself…here’s the video (complete with slow-motion, multi-angled, cringeworthy instant replay)…

Prothro tried valiantly to return to the gridiron, enduring countless hours of surgery, rehab and physical therapy, but to no avail. Eventually he was placed on medical hardship scholarship in 2007. On a brighter note though, he did earn his bachelor’s degree in the College of Human and Environmental Sciences.

Theismann-O-Meter

5. ALLAN RAY

Ray was one of those guys who had a great college career but never quite made it in the NBA. Playing for the Villanova Wildcats, Ray would amass 2000 points as a Wildcat, with his best year being his final year at Villanova, when he averaged 19.1 ppg and was named to the Big East first team. This was back in the 2006 season…the same year he had his eye poked out.

Wait, what?

In the Big East tournament, in a game against Pitt, Ray was poked in the eye by Pitt’s Carl Krauser. The incident left him temporarily without vision, and his eyeball had seemed to come loose from the socket.

Don’t believe me…here’s the photographic and video proof (definitely not for the squeamish)…

Fortunately this was one of those “it looks worse than it is” cases. The vision returned, and the damage was limited to the soft tissue surrounding the eye. Which was good for Ray–seeing that he signed a $2 million contract to play basketball in Italy.

Theismann-O-Meter

4. TRAVIS PASTRANA

Travis Pastrana is a motocross champion and stunt performer, who has the rather unfortunate nickname “Gimp”. Travis is also one lucky son-of-a-bitch…which, after researching his near-death accident, makes me think Pastrana is Italian for “Suck My Balls, Death.”

Back in 1998, when Travis was 14 (which means he was born in 1983–the year I bought Thriller), he attempted a jump of 120 feet on his motorbike…but came up short. The accident separated his spine from his pelvis, which is pretty well incompatible with, you know, life.

But Pastrana didn’t die…although he did spend two weeks in a coma and three weeks in a wheelchair. Oh, and according to doctors, Pastrana is one of only three people to have survived this type of injury…that’s right, one of three. Which makes him totally badass for a) being a motocross champ, and b) kicking death in the balls.

Unfortunately hours of intense research came up empty for any pics or videos of Pastrana’s accident, so here’s an artist’s rendering of Pastrana immediately after the frightening crash…

That pic will haunt your dreams forever.

Theismann-O-Meter

3. SHAUN LIVINGSTON
Shaun Livingston is an oft-injured NBA guard who had the unfortunate luck of being drafted by the LA Clippers right out of high school. Then he had the unfortunate luck of blowing up his knee…and everything in it.

My knee is fucked...but at least I don't have to play for the Clippers anymore!

A couple of years ago Livingston, in a game against the Charlotte Bobcats, landed awkwardly after going in for a layup–and by awkwardly I mean his leg went sideways. He tore both the anterior and posterior cruciate ligament, as well as the lateral meniscus, sprained the medial collateral ligament, and dislocated his patella and tibia-femoral joint.

How graphic was the injury?  ESPN warned viewers of the graphic nature of the video before airing it. But judge for yourself (and consider yourself warned)…

At the time of this article, Livingston, despite missing 101 of 246 regular season games, just recently signed a multi-year deal with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
No word if he injured his wrist signing the contract.

Theismann-O-Meter

2. STEVE YEAGER
Baseball catchers have a pretty demanding job. They gotta squat all day, while some pitcher chucks a hard, white sphere at them at 100 mph. Sure they got protection, but that only goes so far. Just ask former Dodgers catcher Steve Yeager.

Yeager played 14 of his 15 seasons with the Dodgers, winning a World Series in 1981, as well as being named the series MVP. But it was a gruesome accident in 1976 that led to the creation of one of the most important baseball protective devices in the game’s history.

While standing in the on-deck circle, a piece of teammate Bill Russell’s shattered bat hit Yeager in the throat, piercing his esophagus. It took over an hour and a half of surgery for doctors to remove the nine (yes, nine) pieces of wood lodged in Yeager’s throat.

To protect Yeager’s neck when he returned from his injury, Dodger trainer Bill Buhler invented a throat protector that hung from Yeager’s mask. Pretty soon most of the other major league catchers followed suit, adopting the Steve Yeager inspired throat protector.

Thankfully though, the other major league catchers didn’t follow Yeager’s foray into nude modelling. The Dodger catcher famously posed nude for Playgirl magazine in 1982…a sight even more stomach-turning than a guy with 9 chunks of wood lodged in his throat.

Not shown...dignity

Theismann-O-Meter

1. CLINT MALARCHUK
If Chuck Norris could ever procreate (his sperm kills every woman he sleeps with), then Clint Malarchuk would be his love child. Most sports fans know who Malarchuk is…and why March 22, 1989 will forever be linked to the former Buffalo Sabres goalie.

In a game against the St. Louis Blues, Malrchuk’s carotid artery, one of the largest blood vessels in the human body, was slashed by the skate of Blues player Steve Tuttle. Blood began pooling on the ice quickly, and the scene was so disturbing that nine fans fainted, and two others had heart attacks. Meanwhile, Malarchuk was literally dying in front of thousands of spectators.

But death would have to wait, thanks to the instinctive reactions of team athletic trainer (and former army medic) Jim Pizzutelli, who reached into Malarchuk’s neck and pinched the artery until doctors came to suture the wound. Even more amazing was that a week later, after only spending one night in hospital, Malarchuk was back in goal for the Sabres.

To add to Malarchuk’s legendary badassness was the infamous gun incident from 2008…you know, the one where Malarchuk accidentally shot himself in the chin with a .22 caliber rifle. When paramedics arrived to assist the bleeding Malarchuk, the goalie refused treatment, before finally relenting and allowed the EMT’s to transport him to hospital.

Theismann-O-Meter

Thanks to my source:

http://lastangryfan.com/2009/10/the-10-most-horrific-sports-injuries/

RSD / Nitro Circus Video

I was gonna post this video yesterday with my RSD blog but I couldnt figure out how to embed the code of the video on my Mac.  On a PC all you need to do is 'right click' and it gives you the option.  However, with a Mac, there is no 'right click'. Im still learning about my Mac and it's features and if you have any tips and/or pointers then let me know 'cause I need some help on that thing still.  I've had it for almost 6 months and there's a lot of things on it that I don't know how to use. Fack.

This behind the scene footage is narrated by the one and only Pepper, aka Mayor of Skid Row aka Leader of the Homeless. While he shares his thoughts Roland Sands and Andy Bell jump the L.A. River! 

Pepper knows his stuff!

RSD - Roland Sands Design

Roland Sands is the 1998 AMA 250GP National Champion road racer and award-winning designer for Performance Machine, and owner and founder of Roland Sands Design. RSD was a big inspiration for my bike.  My Nightster has many different parts from RSD such as the exhaust, air cleaner and the gas cap.  RSD has customized many different bikes from HD softails to metric sport bikes.  It's funny going from a blog on Yamaha XS650 Bobbers to RSD's sleak, lean and powerful customs. It shows you that I like all types of bikes and it keeps my imagination going for different ideas on all sorts of motorcycles.  RSD has a way of looking at a bike and designing it like no one else could.  With the exception of a Yamaha XS650, every bike that I own until the day I die will most likely have a part from Performance Machine or Roland Sands Design.  Check out the RSD Blog on the right side of the page for a better look at some of his work, it's very cool. 


Here are some cool bikes from RSD:

Mr. Cartoon Bike By RSD

RSD Black Beauty

RSD RenStar

RSD KRV5

RSD Nightster

Yamaha XS650 - Next Year's Winter Project...I just Decided.

So after many email conversations with my new friend Josh of Old School Helmets and G & L Choppers, I've come to decide that I'm going to start looking for a good, used, Yamaha XS650. Now this may sound ridiculous but it's not. I've been thinking of getting another scoot for some time now.  I already have my '09 Nightster, to which I've done a lot of work to date.  After riding my Nightster the past few Summer's and putting nearly 10,000 Km on it I was thinking of a bigger, more comfortable bike.  I rented a HD Street Glide last summer while I was in El Segundo, CA and it was a awesome bike to ride, the thing is that the cost of a Street Glide is nearly 24 G's Cdn.  That's alot of money.  Compared to my Nighty the Street Glide rides like a Caddy.  Now that I've hardtailed my bike, Im gonna be more sore then ever after a short ride.  But that feels good to get home and sit down on the couch and be sore.  It makes you feel like you've done some riding, as opposed to getting off a super comfy touring bike.  Im sure it'll catch up with me, but when it does I hope that I can say that I've gone through enough bikes to earn a geezer glide. 

My bike is basically paid off.  It was roughly 12 G's.  I was thinking of selling it this Summer but I've put way to much into it and I dont want to give it away. I'm not sure how much I could even get for it but I have had offers.  Ideally I would like to keep my Nighty and have a Street Glide or a HD Softail Deluxe in the garage as well.  This isn't an ideal world and I don't have the ideal cash flow to do so however.  So rather then get a new, expensive, pristine Harley, why not buy an old bike that needs some work?

 So in steps the Yamaha XS650.  A good friend of mine, Myles 'Weez' Fletcher found a good used Kawasaki KZ650 C2 for around $1000.  He had a little trouble with the bike initially, but it's been a great bike for him since. I have no doubt in my mind that I can find a Yamaha XS650 for around the same price - depending on the condition. I mentioned before that Josh from G & L Choppers builds these bikes for a living...maybe not entirely for a living. I had alot of questions for him regarding his business and how it worked.  There are a few different options when looking to make an old Yamaha XS650, or any metric bike into a modern day bobber or chopper.  One is finding a bike.  G & L will do this for you or you can find one yourself.  Prefer it to be running if possible.  Next is deciding if you want to do the project yourself, have a say and help in the project, or have it all done for you .  This is something I'll have to decide eventually.  Of course with each step there are ways to spend money and ways to save money.  Im gonna try and do it on a budget, no more then $5000.  Other decisions that need to be made are style, frame, wheels, color etc.  Its not a huge project either. Theres not a lot to these bikes. Its not rocket science but being new to the game I think this will be a good way to start.  So now that I've decided on this I will keep you posted on the entire process.  Until then....

Now this is a project for next winter, so be on the look out for a late 70's Yamaha XS 650.

Maybe If I get going on it I will encourage my buddy Weez and his bro Ryan to get started on Weez's Old Kawi.

Until then here are some pics of the original bike...

And here are some pics what G & L Choppers can do to a Yamaha XS650:

Ardcore Choppers and their take on the Yamaha XS650:

Here are some pics of more XS650's found at http://www.xs650chopper.com/

Happy Belated Blogiversary To Me!

And to celebrate, I am doing another giveaway!

It was around this time last year that I began blogging about my family's life, the challenges of having a child with autism, and on many occasions, about nothing in particular. In the year that has passed, I have read several books on autism, treatments for it, and the stories of other parents and their trials in raising a child with autism. Some of the books have been so-so. Others I finished with an attitude of wanting to change the world, or at the very least, make it a much better place for my child and his needs.

The book that has captivated my attention and influenced me like no other is A Child's Journey Out of Autism by Leeann Whiffen. Although it is a story about one particular family's journey into and out of autism - and not a reference book for treatment options like many others I have read - it is definitely a book I know I will refer back to quite often for years to come.

With that said, I am offering a new copy (not mine! Mine is dog-eared and highlighted and well-loved.) of A Child's Journey Out of Autism as a blogiversary gift from me to whomever wins.

To enter this giveaway, please read carefully:

1. Giveaway entries will be received by emailing your street address and blog address to pnewlin@prodigy.net by January 31st. Entries received after January 31st will not be valid.
2. Please put "Blog Giveaway" in the subject line of your message.
3. If you would like to increase your chance of winning by receiving two entries into the giveaway, please leave a comment on this post in addition to sending an email to me.

New Custom Biltwell Helmet...

I finally got some pics of my new Biltwell helmet.  This helmet was once again done by Josh Scott and Steve Havens from Old School Helmets.  Josh does all the leaf work and Steve does all the pinstriping.  Both these guys are very talented.  It's my second one from OSH and I'm sure I'll continue to get my Biltwells from them.  I haven't yet received the helmet but Josh sent me some pics of the finished lid...so here is 'Snake Bitten"...

Check out the Newest Addition to the HD Family...

Harley Davidson is set to release a new 2010 Sportster Forty-Eight.  Its a pretty sick looking bike and it's very affordable.  HD is said to be listing the bike for around $10,000.  Some features of the bike are it's small 2.1 gallon fuel tank, or about 7 liters.  This tank first appeared on an HD bike back in 1948 - hence the name. It also has a fat front end with a nice big wide tire and a chopped front fender.  The paint schemes are cool as well - brings back that old school look that aren't commonly seen on new bikes.  The bike comes in three colors, black, silver and orange - the colors only being highlighted on the gas tank itself.  What I mean is that if you want a orange bike - only the fuel tank will be orange, the rest of the bike such as the fenders, will be black. Im sure we'll see some of these around Lethbridge sooner then later.

There was a new video of the bike on the HD website - but it wouldnt allow me to copy it.  So I found a few older videos that are pretty cool and worth watching...

Here's a vid of a bike that my buddy DJ bought last year...he claimed he bought it because of this video...Im kidding...

We REALLY Do Learn Something New....

every single day.

And I, for one, am amazed at all that I learned today! Here is what I remember of it all:

There is a medical treatment called glutathione IV therapy that has been used for several years in treating patients with Parkinson's Disease. My apologies for the use of the words "several years" but no amount of Googling on my part resulted in a concrete and certain year in which doctors began using such treatment for Parkinson's or any other disease, for that matter.

Because of glutathione's super-antioxidant powers in restoring balance to the various chemicals in the brain and its abilities in aiding chelation of heavy metals out of the human body, glutathione IV therapy has caught the attention of doctors who treat autism by means of biomedical treatments and it has become quite popular in the last few years. All of this totally makes sense, as any family doctor or pediatrician even worth speaking to now knows to no longer advise parents to give Tylenol or any acetaminophen-containing drug to a child just prior to vaccinations due to the fact that it is a glutathione-depleting substance. And when you deplete gluathione, you compromise the immune system. And when you compromise the immune system, you invite heavy metals to make themselves at home in the human body. Not a good thing.

I won't even get started on the vaccines themselves. But hey, suffice it to say that whether or not you believe vaccinations play a role in certain children's autism, if you are a parent who is still vaccinating your child, Tylenol is not something to give your child before going to your pediatrician's office for his or her weekly monthly routine jabs. I'm just sayin'.

To learn more about glutathione therapy in children with autism, go to Autism Recovery Treatment. If you would like to learn more about how destructive acetaminophen is to your child's immune system or if you just plain don't believe me on this, go to The Glutathione Experts where you can find article after article detailing studies conducted on the effects present when glutathione and acetaminophen do a dance.

More autism-related stuff. What can I say....I talk to a lot of parents of children with autism on a daily basis and I also spend a lot of time poking around online checking out things. Sometimes it applies to our situation. Sometimes not.

Today I learned a little about hyperlexia. I had heard of it before. Didn't know much about it. Apparently, one of my autism friends' son has a diagnosis of hyperlexia. Simply put, the kid was able to read at two-and-a-half years old. Pretty amazing, huh? That's all I got. Wanna know more? Let Wikipedia explain it to you.

Let's talk about veggies, shall we?

I have never in my life eaten celery root. Well, not that I am aware of, anyway. Don't know what it tastes like. Wouldn't know how to prepare it to save my life. But....I hear it's really good. So next time I see it as an option for my Farm Fresh delivery, I will get some and then I will go to Allrecipes or Recipezaar and figure out what to do with my little veggie treasure.

And on to something totally off the wall....

A child's gender awareness begins in the first year of life. Gender awareness is how a child sees himself or herself, as in, as a boy or a girl. Other than these simple facts, I am totally ignorant regarding trans-gender facts and lingo. If you would like to learn more, check out TransYouth Family Allies. Don't even ask how I came about this information in the strange passing of my day today...it's a long story and this has been a long day.

Oh wait, I mean yesterday. I'm only two hours into this day.

And last but certainly not soon-forgotten, yesterday I learned that if I sway my arms as though I am pretending to be a bird or an airplane, Reiss says that it means "slow-motion." Because Miss Julie said so.

If you are reading this, I hope I haven't put you to sleep but that is exactly what I should be doing so....buh-bye!

Is Spring here already?!

So here is my third post...It's taken me alot to get to this point already.  I'm still messing around a lot with my blog and still trying to find different ideas to put on it.  I've been scanning around on many different blogs to try and get more ideas on how to get the most of my blog.  Like I've said before - I'm new to this and I want to make it look good and I want to try and post a few times a week.  So for all of you waiting patiently for my updated blog - 'cause I know there's A LOT...thanks and I hope that I can get started on my story soon.

Now with that being said, I can tell you that I'm not the only one excited about this weather.  I've actually seen a few bikes out on the road the past week.  Kinda ballsy because when the snow and ice melts it still leaves another type of motorcycle danger on the road - rocks, gravel and sand.  I think I'll just wait for another month or two - unless the weather gets VERY nice...until then you can find me in my garage acting like I know what I'm doing on my bike.

The pic above is of me trying to line up my new rear fender on my bike.  I've put a new seat on my bike last summer and it led to me having to move my ECU on my bike.  The ECU is on all fuel injected bikes, its basically a computer, the brain of the bike. This ECU was mounted on my rear fender under my old seat.  With the new spring seat I installed, I had to move my ECU to a different spot on the bike.  This left a big hole in the fender, you could literally reach through the rear fender and grab the rear tire.  This was not good.  I found a fender on ebay for about $150.  Its a bare bones, bare metal fender.  My plan is to set it, chop it, paint it and install it all on my own.  After that I can actually say that I 'Chopped' my bike.  Thats where the bike term 'Chopper' came from.  Cutting and chopping can get very technical, but for the most part, its not rocket science. Ill post some more pics as I go.

Now another way to make the winter fly by is to blow money on stupid helmets.  Most of the helmets I have and wear are DOT approved but I've began a small collection of 'Biltwell' helmets - my girlfriend Kristin just loves 'em! I might need to start hiding them from her...The helmet in the pic was done by Josh Scott from Old School Helmets. He does custom pinstriping and artwork on bikes and has recently began laying down his art on Biltwells.  Biltwells are very cool helmets, very comfortable, but they aren't DOT.  I wear them out around town once and a while,  they have lots of padding but they don't have the hard foam liner like most DOT helmets have.  Once you put one on you won't ever wanna wear any other helmet.  And the best part? One size fits all.  Check out the link below I posted about Biltwell.  I have about 7 Biltwells right now and Josh is making me another one right this second.  Its a flat black helmet with some snakes and roses artwork and some pinstriping. We named it 'Snake Bitten'.  Im lookign forward to seeing it.  He should be done in a few weeks and I'll post some pics once I get it.

Now blogging is very new to me.  I've always enjoyed writing and sharing my thoughts with others.  English was my favorite class in High School.  I can say already that I enjoy it.  It has forced me to open up a little more and try and be a little more descriptive and honest.  This is something that Facebook cannot offer.  Facebook is just a pointless way to creep on peoples lives and look at other peoples pictures.  Now don't get me wrong.  If it wasn't for Facebook I wouldn't of hooked back up with a lot of old WSU (Washington State University) friends.  One of them being my buddy David Eno.  Eno invited me down to El Segundo, California this past summer and it was great seeing him.  I rented a bike and rode the PCH for a few days. Ill devote another blog to that trip itself.

Well it was nice to get a my first 'decent' blog out of the way.  Once I get motivated and get on front of my Mac there's no stopping me.  I wish I was like that in the garage.  Most of the time I just find myself standing, staring at my bike wondering "What am I doing?"

~Kurt

So Totally Unrelated to Autism....

or my family, but here is a fascinating read, nonetheless.

Actually, with the increasing resourcefulness Al Qaeda is demonstrating and its far-reaching effects on the rest of the world, maybe this isn't so totally unrelated to my family. Maybe it does affect me and my loved ones more than I care to think but for now, I'll just pretend I live in a world where....

...the streams flow cleanly and are as transparent as glass.
...the air is clean and clouds are made of marshmallows.
...the FDA sets higher standards for a lower allowable toxin content in vaccines than the EPA sets for our water supply.
...I don't have to wait in line in a physician's waiting room behind Starbucks-toting suck-ups employed by pharmaceutical companies just to see a doctor.
...my SUV converts disposable diapers into 100% clean-burning fuel with no waste left behind.
...eating organically actually costs less than eating conventional foods.
...middle-class Americans paying for health insurance actually receive health benefits at least as good as those of government-funded (read "paid for by my tax dollars") programs for the poor.

and finally.....

...autism not only does not affect 1 in 100 (according to the CDC - however, studies conducted by various other sources show the numbers are even more prominent) children, but does not exist at all.

Okay, enough! I can dream. Anyway, here is the article....

Al Qaeda linked to rogue aviation network

Enjoy! And please accept my apologies in advance if it serves as a rude awakening out of your own marshmallow-y dreams.

Someone PLEASE Take This For Me!!!

Back in November, I held my second Betty Crocker giveaway sponsored by MyBlogSpark. I'm not going to go into major detail of why I am revisiting something two months back in history, but suffice it to say that I still need someone to claim this prize.

If you are willing to review these products on your blog and have the ability to send an email message to me at pnewlin@prodigy.net, please be the first person to send an email message to me containing your snail mail address. A mailing address will look something like this:

Piper Pickles
246 Peanut Butter Boulevard
Jamtown PA 87399

Really, people, I feel bad having to explain what this means, however, apparently I do because we are in January now and I still don't have anyone who was willing to comply with these simple guidelines.

Okay, rant over! Let the flood of emails begin....first person gets the prize.

(BTW, please put "Blog Giveaway" in the subject line of your email message.)

At the End of My Rope...

Never in a million years did I think at nearly five years of age my child would still be pooping in his pants - and not just an occasional accident, but regularly and on purpose! I am so over cleaning poop out of Reiss's pants on a near daily (sometimes two, three, or four times) basis, I could tear my hair out.

And he was doing so well there for several weeks.....

But no, Reiss is now back to pooping in his pants almost daily and is proud of himself for doing it. He wants to wear a diaper because Milla wears Pull-Ups (visualize me saying this in a snotty voice). Seriously, I could cry. Actually, I might just do that later.

Today alone, I have cleaned poop out of Reiss's pant two times. Weeks ago, even just days ago, the threat of wearing a diaper would send him into a tantrum begging not to have to wear one. He goes back and forth though...one day he wants to wear a diaper to be just like Milla. The next, he is having a record-breakingly loud and extensive meltdown at the mere mention of having to wear a diaper. Make up your mind already, ya' know??

How in the world is a person supposed to know how to handle that? GRRRRR!!!!!!!

And by the way, I hope I never sound like I don't like or love my own child. I love Reiss to pieces but some days....some days I wish with all my being things could just be even a teensy bit easier.

On a more positive note, my husband and I are working with a woman who is the former director of a therapy facility for children on the northside of Indianapolis in helping her and her husband (also a former director of the same facility) get the word out about a similar facility of their own that they hope to open by summertime.

Their facility will provide ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy services all in one building - a wonderful benefit to those parents who either have several therapists coming to their homes and/or travel to several different facilities in order for their children to receive their different therapies. This is exactly the kind of thing this side of town (we live on the southside of Indianapolis) needs, as no other facility of its kind exists here.

I always say the southside is the worst place to have a child with autism because all the professionals specializing in autism treatments are on the northside. The one place that is not is downtown and is a university-based autism treatment facility that is so overwhelmed with patients they cannot provide the intensive treatment these children need. Just ask me and my husband. Unfortunately, we know first-hand. For example, their recommended form of therapy for Reiss was ABA for one hour, one time per month. Anyone who knows anything at all about ABA knows that one hour of ABA might as well be nothing. ABA is generally given to children ten to thirty hours per week, with some children needing a little less, others needing a bit more. However, one hour per month would never be considered effective treatment by the professionals who originally conceived the ABA theories.

In other news....(is that so cliche or what?)

A girl, well, she's actually a woman now, I went to school with and am facebook friends with sounds like she is in the process of beginning the journey into autism with her son. It breaks my heart to know others have to go through what we go through but it's nice to know I have been there, am still there, and can help others just now joining "the club" that no one wants to be a part of, but many of us (and a growing number of us) are forced into joining.

There were some other positives to my day today. I didn't ditch my friend, Carol, and our regular Wednesday mall-walking date like I have had to do for a few weeks now due to other things going on. So I did get some exercise today.

While at the mall, in addition to walking two miles, I also rocked the Bath & Body Works store! My brother-in-law gave me a giftcard for there. I was unsure of the amount of the giftcard and kept forgetting to call the 800 number on the back to find out. After walking this morning, I had some time to kill before going to get Reiss and decided to go spend my giftcard before I forgot about having it. Their semi-annual sale is going on right now and that is one sale I love so much that I actually tell people about it. I must sound like a real dork telling people about a sale but this sale is a good one. How can I pass up stocking up on gifts for people when they include getting body sprays for $0.35???

Anyway, so I picked out what I thought was probably around $25 worth of stuff. It ended up being a total with tax of $30.39. My giftcard was for thirty dollars so I got 21 items for $0.39 out of pocket! Not too shabby, especially considering I was just guessing at the amount of the giftcard.

After robbing the Bath & Body Works store, I took Milla to the play area for the remaining little bit we had before needing to pickup Reiss from preschool. She played and ran around and I hope she had fun. She looked like she was having fun. There was one mom whose little girl of about eighteen months, by my guesstimation, ran out of the play area. The mom was young (but then, anything younger than thirty seems young to me these days) and was sitting there talking with a friend and not watching her daughter. I was watching her daughter and Milla at the same time and wondering how long it would be before she got up to go get her daughter. Finally, after her daughter was about fifty or so feet from the play area and getting ready to enter JCPenney, the mom got up to go look for her daughter. And it wasn't even in an oh-my-goodness-where-is-my-daughter sort of way. It was more like la-dee-da-dee-da-I-guess-I-will-go-find-my-daughter-now kind of way. GRRRR!!!! (Just for fun, can you count how many times I used the word "daughter" in that paragraph? Sheesh, where are those writing skills people used to gush all over me about?)

Anyhooooo.....surely anyone reading this to here is bored to tears by now so........

I'm off...back to conquering the world I go. HA!

Where in the world is Walla Walla?

So it's my second post and I've decided to travel all the way to Walla Walla, Washington just to get inspired........I kid I kid.  I'm actually in Walla Walla for worka worka. I used to come to Walla Walla to play ball back in my college days when I played at PBA. All I ever saw of Walla Walla back then was the ball field and the Holiday Inn.  Coming here now I've seen alot more of the city and I've realized that it's actually a nice place.  It (Walla Walla), Im tired of writing the name of the city, so Im referring to Walla Walla as it. It has a great downtown area and some cool little pubs and places to eat.  I didn't realize that the area was known for it's wine.  Too bad I'm not a wine guy.  I know Kristin would of actually liked this place.  I was in Omaha about a month ago and now Walla Walla.  Im happy that my new job allows me to travel the world.

Tonight I was messing with my new blog settings and layout. Im still trying to get a little more comfortable with the blogging world. The bad wireless connection in my hotel room really held me back tonight. I had a bunch of good pics and a few other things I wanted to do tonight. But...Id rather do them right then do them half-assed.

My next blog will be my the beginning of it all.  I'm looking forward to getting this thing off the ground and I'm really gonna make an honest effort to post every other day.

Later.

Monday Messes

My day began by cleaning up spilled apple juice that I had poured into a "cup without a lid" and given to Reiss during breakfast. He reached for it to take a drink, somehow missed, and that was how we got Monday Mess #1.

Immediately following the cleanup of the overturned apple juice, Milla was asking (I'm so nice to call it "asking" - it was more like whining at a fever pitch) for some milk. So I got the foil-pack carton of Almond Breeze out of the refrigerator, started to shake it, and next thing I knew I was being showered with almond milk. As was the entire westside of my kitchen. Monday Mess #2 was born.

Reiss finished breakfast and went off to play in the master bathroom with a - unbeknownst to me at the time - toy aquarium. He filled it with water and came walking down the hall asking, "Mommy, why's this thang got water coming out?" That is not a typo. He really does say "thang."

Well, Reiss that would be because it's a toy aquarium, not something we actually fill with water. Monday Mess #3 made its appearance and in a grand way, all the way down the hall, through the bedroom all over the carpet in there, and on into the bathroom where a puddle approximately the size of Lake Michigan awaited my maiden skills and already sopping wet towel I was scooting down the hall with to clean up.

After removing the aquarium from the bathroom and establishing a new rule: No filling toy aquariums with water - I returned to the kitchen to find Milla and Monday Mess #4. Milla had turned her cup of apple juice over as well. All this action before 8:30 am. Do I know how to live it up or what?

I suppose it's a good thing I don't give them very much juice when they have cups without lids.

So why don't I just give them cups with lids? I could. And I could also listen to them tantrum themselves into a tizzy for a few minutes. I'll take cleaning up a mess now and then over a tantrum anyday. Honestly though, I can handle the tantrums. There is more to my excuse for giving them cups without lids and it includes having teachers in preschools who prefer to have them able to drink with a regular cup when they begin attendance. They also asked me at Milla's IFSP evaluation last week if she can drink from a cup without a lid so I guess that is something that is expected of a two-year-old??

I don't know. You tell me. I don't even know what "normal" behavior is anymore so I don't know what to expect.

Monday Mess # 5 came this afternoon within five minutes of Reiss and I throwing a big party for him having pooped and peed on the potty. It was naptime for Milla and Reiss had just finished eating his reward treat for pooping on the potty. He left the kitchen, then returned five minutes later, and told me he had poop in his pants.

Seriously???

So much for rewards. His reward this time was a diaper. Not a disposable pull-up. A regular old Huggies tearaway-tabs-on-the-side diaper. And he didn't even mind.

Reiss has been pooping in his pants several times the last few days and yesterday we told him if he did it again, he was going to wear a diaper. He wanted no part of the diaper scene again and threw a fit simply by the mention of him wearing a diaper. Today, he didn't care.

Really, I don't know how I am supposed to potty-train a child who doesn't even care. Why, oh why, does everything have to be so difficult? Just as I start to get comfortable in anything and thinking, hey, this ain't so bad, a monkey wrench gets thrown in. It almost never fails.

I really do try to stay positive with having a child with autism but it's so hard when nearly every aspect of every day is difficult in some way. And before I get the people coming out of the woodwork telling me:

"He's four. What do you expect?"
"These things happen sometimes."
"Oh, that's normal. He'll be potty-trained before you know it."

Or any other attempts to make me see that this has nothing to do with autism, let it be known that I'm not saying Reiss is not potty-trained because he is autistic. Although, I do think that plays a part at the very root of the problem - even our DAN! doctor has given us information pointing to that regard. But it has to do with gut and bowel issues and is not something average people who don't spend nearly every spare moment away from their children reading about the science behind autism would find interesting.

And I'm not saying Reiss does everything he does because he is autistic. What I am saying though, is that there are a lot of things Reiss does because he is four years old and is a boy and then there are also a lotta lot of things he does because he is autistic. When you add them together, the sum can be some extremely difficult days to handle. Frankly, it's exhausting. I want those carefree fun kind of days so many other people get to enjoy.

Speaking of carefree fun...We went outside in the freezing cold weather today so I could pull these monkeys around on the sleds. While Reiss waited on Milla to be pulled, he whined that he wanted her sled, which is for babies and too small even for her. While Reiss was being pulled in the baby sled, Milla was crying loud enough for the neighbors three streets over to hear her. Regardless...I pulled them around like a pack mule and tried to make it fun for them. I don't know if it was just their moods or just too cold but they didn't seem happy and then Reiss wanted to come back inside.

And that was about as carefree as we got today. Oh wait, I did let them empty out nearly a full bottle of glue on pieces of construction paper while I loaded the dishwasher. No, that is not my idea of a craft. They were supposed to be making snowmen from craft pom-poms and glue on paper. Instead, they just sat and watched as the glue streamed out of the bottle on their sheets of paper. But I got the dishwasher loaded and that was an accomplishment.

Here's to hoping Tuesday is more carefree and less messy.....