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.....

First day on the Blog...

Well, I finally took the leap into blogging. I've been meaning to do so for quit some time now but I've never had the time or the desire to blog.

What's the point in blogging anyways?
I don't know.

I guess I'll just be putting my thoughts and daily activities on here to share with everyone.

Who's everyone?
I don't know.

I think the main reason behind me blogging will be to share my experiences with my bike. My 2009 Harley Nightster. I'm fairly new to the game. The harley game that is. I've grown up on dirtbikes and quads but my Harley was a new venture in my life that quickly took a hold of me and all of my attention.

I'll get more into my bike and how I've come to make it my own in the near future. Right now I'm still learning how to navigate and operate my blogspot.

Later.