Bedtime for 3 Year Old

So Leilani sleeps through the night these days, but before going to bed, there are a checklist of items that now must be met before she goes to sleep. If any single one of these are missed and she is already bed, she will not rest until it gets resolved. These are:

- Hugs and kisses Mama
- Hugs and kisses Dadda
- Hugs and kisses Ezra
- Brushed teeth
- Water bottle
- JanJan blanket
- Blanket covering everything from the top of the neck down
- Food (The "I'm hungry" card)
- Head cannot be placed near the headboard, even by her own doing
- BearBear (needs to be present, though not necessarily next to her... could be on the floor)
- Prayer (she first, me second)

It's like a bedtime game of whack-a-mole. When she is down, and I'm tired, and I realize that one of those things haven't been done, I get that sinking feeling in my stomach. Despite my best attempts to rationalize or try to get her to forget, it never works. NEVER.

This girl knows what she wants. Joy. No, really.

Happy New Year

Yes, the last time I posted about anything meaningful on this blog was last summer. The good thing is that it is now still technically winter, so I only failed to post for a single season of the year. And, while it was technically summer, it was the dawn of a new school year so that means it really was more fall than winter. So, yeah. There hasn't been a single season, therefore, I haven't posted.

Ok, I just calculated (on a website, not on a calculator) that it has actually been 216 days since my last post. Wow. That feels like a long time.

A lot of life has happened in those 216 days.

So for those of who who were whining for an update (Mr. Tamil Memphis Tiger), here it is. I have a bit more time to post things nowadays so I will probably might post more regularly. At least before another 216 days have passed. We'll see.

So in a quick, social media friendly, roundup, here are some highlights since my last post. Sorry for not updating, both for your sake and mine. Here are some things in no particular order.

• Ruth is pregnant. We are expecting kid number 2 (named Ezra) to arrive sometime on or around April 4. Ruth is hoping for NOW.
• We've been in Memphis since last May, with a trip to Hot Springs, Arkansas in September, and a trip back to DC for Christmas. I took a MTR trip to New Orleans in January.
• Teaching at an urban elementary school is a tough job.
• Our first Thanksgiving away from DC area family was really nice.
• Memphis is warm. Winters aren't as cold as DC, but cold enough. I wore my coat twice. (I should have worn it more.)
• We have made some excellent friends.
• We have found a church to regularly attend. I am it's Mayor on Foursquare.
• There has been some tweaking to the Memphis mission that has brought us here.
• Getting to know Ruth's family who lives out here has been great.
• Leilani has become a deeper sleeper thanks to obnoxious train whistles. She once woke up every time a train came by. Now she sleeps through it all.
• Sweet tea is on the menu everywhere here. Not only at McDonald's and Chick-fil-A. Or Uno's.
• I am one class (project) away from M.U.Ed.
• My residency finds me at a new school for the past 2 weeks.
• I am going to attempt to make funnel cakes when some friends come over for dinner tonight.

Well, that's all for now. I wonder what will happen to my blog when I hit "Publish." Hopefully you can read this and it didn't crumble in a pile of ash.