I've Had the Time of My Life

Today is one of those days that I want to remember.

To many just another ordinary Wednesday

in the middle of August, 

but to me it will forever be a treasured memory

that I will tuck away for a rainy day.

A day we almost missed  because our day began at 4am...
and I was soooooo tired...too tired to wrestle the beast,
but a 10 minute nap and a ridiculous amount of coffee,
and I was ready to go!

Our movie theater offered a
few classic movies this summer...

Ghostbusters, Grease, and Back to the Future,
 but today's offering was Dirty Dancing... 
one of my all time favorites and a movie Scotty

has seen hundreds of times.
So for a few hours this afternoon 

we traveled to Kellermans and lost ourselves

 in the familiar surroundings of the Catskill Mountains.

My children grew up on Dirty Dancing.
I am certain they know all the words

to the songs and most definitely
remember a few these sweet dance moves.

As we walked in this afternoon the movie had just begun,
 and as soon as Scotty heard the music

he literally jumped for joy.  

He immediately broke out some of his dance moves

and started laughing...hysterically...
the doubled over belly laughing kind of laugh. 

We go to lots of movies, but this is the first time he has 

ever gone to see one of his favorites.

HE..WAS...SO...EXCITED.

(And so was I)

It was contagious.

I didn't stop smiling through the whole movie. 

Oddly, or maybe not so much if you know me at all,

but I had tears rolling down my face at the same time for most of the show.

Partly because Patrick Swayze is

SO..DARN...HANDSOME,

but mostly because I was once again
reminded by my young son how to be joyful.

The kind of joy that bubbles up out of you until it explodes.

Thank you Scotty for reminding me just how lucky
I am to be able to spend my days with you.

Sure it's true that every day isn't like today,
but without all the 

terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days
that we sometimes have

a day like today wouldn't be half as wonderful...

It would have just been an ordinary
Wednesday afternoon in the middle of August.

Thank you for reminding me that is
perfectly okay to clap along 

really loudly (in perfect rhythm I might add)
to the music,and to sing very loudly
in a language only you can understand.

Thank you for reminding me
 that is perfectly acceptable 

to stand up in the middle of a
crowded movie theater
and dance, wiggle, and shake your booty
while you raise
your arms in the air and try to
get everyone in the theater to join you.

Thank you for helping me remember
what it feels like to have so much joy

bubble up inside you that it
makes you laugh and cry at the same time.

Scotty boy, today

I had the time of my life...

and I owe it all to you.

There is a time for everything,
    and a season for every 
activity under the heavens...

 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
    a time to mourn and a time to dance... 

Ecclesiastes 3

His Peaceable Kingdom

Scotty has always loved animals...big or small...soft or slimey...he loves, loves, loves them all. He is not afraid of any of God's creatures and to him an alligator is no less lovable than a kitten. He wants to hold them on his lap and kiss them on the mouth. We have had an assortment of creatures residing here over the years. Dogs, rabbits, guinea pigs, fish and an endless stream of hamsters named Bubba have all lived under our roof.

Scotty loves animals and they love him too.  

He has never gotten bit.
Okay one time...but it wasn't because he was too rough. 
It was an accident.

And although he is strong enough to put his fist 

through a wall, he has never harmed one of his kingdom. 

They must sense his innocent and gentle spirit.

 Okay that's fake, but if we let him he WOULD have a snake!

And if they animals couldn't fit 
in the house we went to them.

Recently, I have been praying for a way that Scotty and I can get out more during the day.  We are both going a bit stir crazy and need a diversion, but it needed to be something I could manage on my own.
 To say the least, at 170 lbs my "little" guy
can be quite a handful on outings.

I realized his love of animals was a great starting place.
 A Pet Care service...Bingo!
 I reached out to friends with dogs
and the response has been overwhelming.

So Scotty's Pet Care was born.
My goals:
1. Task completion
2. Follow directions.
3. Stay focused.
 4. Understand the concept of working/earning/spending.

We have spent several weeks preparing and modeling expectations.
 
We ordered a special shirt for him to wear to "work."

We made a "work" notebook for him to take to his job.

Our service is free,
but he can earn a dollar tip that he places in his book.

When he earns enough dollars
he can buy a hamburger for lunch.
I make sure he will get the positive reinforcement
each "work" day.
He is all about immediate gratification!

We set up his Ipad.

We were ready.
Yesterday was his first official day of work.
We started out taking care of Bonnie.

Next we drove to our friend Mary's house and cared for her dogs Gizmo, Chloe and Elsie.

He let them out, patted them softly and fed them a treat.
We were there for about 30 minutes.
It was pretty labor intensive trying to get him to focus
and stay on task, but for our first day I would say it was a huge success.

This was so cute.
 He showed his "work" book to Chloe♥
He was so proud!

He was so happy...so, so happy and excited!
As an extra bonus he had lunch
with one of his caregivers, Kevin and his daughter.
He bought himself lunch with the money he earned!
What a great day.
In a few weeks we will start to add new clients to his list.
We need to just take it slowly so he doesn't get overwhelmed.

And what a better way to end the day than a celebration dinner at Peace Burger.

Cheers!

The wolf will live with the lamb, 

the leopard will lie down with the goat, 

the calf and the lion and the yearling together; 

and a little child will lead them.

Isaiah 11:6