September 10th Update: Matt drinks from a cup by himself!

The following is a slightly embellished message from Matt:

For the first time since the accident I drank from a cup all by myself! It wasn't a straw or sippy cup either so there! A huge relief for me and for anyone who eats with me, because now I'm not reliant on asking someone for a drink everytime I want one. Now if I can just figure out how to drink out of a beer bottle by myself; there is always more to achieve around here.

On August 29th I went out to the Britt show to see the Avett Brothers in concert. A big thanks to Judd Hanna who got the tickets and had the idea in the first place. And a huge thank you to Dustin and Eva for the ride, which these days is no small task. Super fun!!

Labor Day weekend my brother and his fiance flew up for a visit from Los Angeles. I spent most of their first day in town at the doctor's office, but we had a good time Friday night drinking Red Truck wine and eating some homemade lasagna from Katie Morris. We sat around talking about how amazingly generous everyone has been and talked about the possibility of getting and FES bike. Neal brought me up to speed on the donations coming through the blog from all sorts of people that have never even met me. I still get choked up at the idea so many people out there care about my situation and have been willing to help.

Saturday night we headed out for my first night on the town in Ashland since the accident. We had some good Italian food at Pasta Piatti and the Allred's joined us there for dinner. After that we headed around the corner to the Paddy Brannan's Irish Pub for my first night out in Ashland. Eric Danson brought along the video camera to capture the first outing for the documentary we're working on. An enormous thank you to my dad for the ride in to town and staying up late to come pick me up again. The scaffolding ramp system into the back of the truck really worked and no got hurt loading and unloading the wheelchair... Oh Lord won't you buy me a wheelchair van (forget the Mercedes Benz)!

Sunday afternoon they loaded me into Beth's car (thank you so much for loaning us your car, the power seat option for the passenger made the whole trip possible) and we headed out to Crater Lake National Park. It was a big weekend for me, two big outings and still no wheelchair van, but we're making it work so I don't go stir crazy at home. The lake was beautiful, but I was really looking forward to getting back home for some pizza and a visit with Danson!

Sunday night we had a good time over pizza and some more Red Truck wine. We had some good laughs at the expense of Kermit the Frog and then Danson shot some video with my brother for the documentary project. Busy weekend all the way around!

Doctor Update: Dr. Alstadt says things look good and half my neck brace was removed. One more month and everything is removed. Woohoo!

Don't forget about Darin's raffle, some awesome kayak gear up for grabs! http://mattthomasraffle.blogspot.com/

There is a big fundraiser going on in Scott Valley September 19th. Some amazing auction items have been coming together for the event, get your tickets now! http://sv4thomasfamily.wordpress.com/

A special thanks to Mark Peaty for putting together the website and to Diane Pomeroy and Palm Malmberg for organizing this event