Pixie Dust

It probably goes without saying that I am not prone to frequent leaps of faith.

And you might have noticed that sometimes I worry about things that never happen.

But once in a while I intuit that things are going to be okay. When this happens, you can put money down on my intuition.

I met my husband online. I can't tell you that I knew that we'd build our life together this way from the outset, but I had this intuition from our first email exchange that nothing bad could come of it. I spent barely any time online dating... it's not necessarily my style, and I quickly met and fell for J. The first time I talked to him on the phone, I knew I'd just had the best date I'd ever had in my life, and that agreeing to meet him in person posed no danger.

Anyways...

Pixie Mama is here. For anyone who worried that either one of us would be an axe murderer, we can both assure you that the only weapons we've come near since her arrival Saturday are the Rooster's (by way of Luke Skywalker's) "light savers."

We both acknowledge why some people might find it scary for one blogger to travel 3,000 miles to spend a week in the home of another blogger she's never met and her husband, two kids, and special needs challenges. Yeah, it could sound chancy. It is hard for me to imagine someone wanting to visit us: Our house is small, our city enormous, our days LONG, our kids challenging. But Pixie Mama wanted to come -- she loves Cali, she cares about the Rooster clan, she needed a break. And my intuition said things would be okay.

I was wrong. Things have been much better than okay.

Pixie Mama arrived about 50 hours ago with gifts like stickers for the kids and a journal, robe and art for me. These gifts have arrived since:
1. We all went to the ocean. Twice. Somehow living in Los Angeles this idea rarely crosses our minds, even though my son worships water. Yesterday I chose a too crowded beach that challenged the Rooster in terms of noise, crowds, overstimulation, waiting in lines... and still he maintained and found some bliss as we muddled through. Today we visited the ocean on MEMORIAL DAY and managed a perfect outing, with lovely weather, in a quiet spot, and shot winning photos, all thanks to Pixie Mama. The ocean has tremendous power.
2. Dare I write about it? On one hand, it should be an ENTIRE post unto itself. On the other, we've had too many ups and downs, and I've flown already in the face of the deities so often... let me just say this. It was an amazing weekend for potty training strides, and I am proud of my boy.
3. Peaches and Rooster have been pretty lovely together. Oh, sure, they also have argued over the radio and fought and shouted some. But when Pixie Mama painted Peaches' toes, Rooster cried of envy. Peaches said, "I know! I know what to do! I will SHARE my new polish with you, okay Rooster?" To which he put his arms around her and thanked her with hugs. I painted his toes, she blew on them to dry the faster, and they loved on one another. Okay, this is a GIFT.
4. Peaches is terrified of Malificent, the scary witch of Sleeping Beauty. She went on and on about this at dinner, and my Rooster brimmed over with empathy. It went something along the lines of, "Peaches, if that evil witch tries to scare you, I. WILL. PROTECT YOU." Melty, melty, melty, melt.

This is what the Rooster said when he grabbed Pixie in a hug... giving the highest compliment he bestows, and echoing my sentiments precisely:

"You are so dear to me!"