Todd's Blog

Well, I've been gone for almost 3 weeks now ... after spending many days in the terminals of Hickam, March, Dover and Travis Air Force bases, I can't tell you how good it feels to be back in my home, in my own bed right here in Paradise.

And of course, I had to head down to the beach here at Iroquois Point to get a new Hawaii Picture of the Day ... as promised.




So, what has everyone else been up to these last couple of weeks? Are you all enjoying your summer so far?

Aloha til tomorrow ...
Todd

Aloha,

Just wanted to drop a quick note to let you know that I probably won't be posting much (if at all) for the next couple of weeks. In a couple of hours, we're off to Hickam AFB to try to catch a Space-A hop back to the mainland.

I may pop in with a few thoughts from time to time while I'm gone, but for the most part, I'll be hanging out with my kids.

If you're a regular reader, please stick around ... I should be back with more Hawaii Pictures of the Day in the beginning of July.

Catch up with you again soon,
Todd

On Wednesday the kids and I will be signing up for a Space-A flight back to the mainland. Justin will be returning next year, but Jordan will be staying in North Carolina with her mom. She's been back with me for 2 years now, and seems like the time has just flown by.



I've gotten a few picture while she's been here, but for some reason I almost always have to be sneaky to ever get one of her smiling. While not a full out smile, this picture was somewhat willing on her part. And since it may possibly be one of her last pictures here in Hawaii, it is the alohateam picture of the day.

Aloha til next time,
Todd

Ok, it may not look pretty, (I've never been to cooking school) but boy does it taste good.



Today, I thought I'd try something different and share a quick and easy recipe. I do a lot of the cooking for our family, and one of my favorite meals is "breakfast for dinner" ... and one of my favorite "dinner breakfasts" is my (Better than Dennys) Potato and Egg Skillet.

Here's what you'll need to make it:


A large frying pan or electric skillet
Oil ... I used macadamia nut oil tonight
6-9 eggs
4 small potatoes
1 small onion
Ham or Bacon
2 tomatoes
Shredded cheddar cheese


I start out with the pan on low heat, and add a couple of tablespoons of oil.

Wash and cut the potatoes into cubes and chop the onion. Add both to the pan, and turn up the heat. Use a spatula to stir/turn over occasionally. Season to your taste with salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, and even a little bit of garlic if you like. If you cover the pan, it will cook a little quicker.

While the potatoes …

Sorry, no picture today ... and I apologize in advance for the following RANT.

Can somebody please tell me why people today are in such a hurry that they'll risk not only their own lives, but those of others to save a shave a couple of lousy minutes off their drive time?

It's been about 30 minutes, and my heart is still beating faster than normal. At this point, I don't know whether I'm more scared or mad. I was coming home from work about about 11:15pm, driving down Kunia Road from Schofield towards Ewa Beach. It was already bad enough that many people are too inconsiderate to turn off their brights, so every time there were cars coming the other direction I was almost blinded anyway. But then, about halfway down the road, as I was being blinded again, at the last minute I was lucky enough to notice that there were two sets of headlights... and one of them was in my lane!

I had to slam on my breaks and veer to the right, almost off the road.

And would you believe the …

Today's Hawaii Picture of the day is my daughter Jordan riding a wave on her boogie board. This is kind of a family tradition. When I lived here in Hawaii as a kid, we used to go to Bellows every weekend ... and I pretty much spent all day out on the waves.



We don't go to the beach now nearly as often as I did when I was a kid, but when we do go, Jordan and Justin especially like to get out on the waves. The younger kids are happy to stay closer to shore ... but have fun in the little waves too.

When the day comes that I have to leave Hawaii again, the ocean and waves are definitely something I'm going to miss.

Aloha til next time,
Todd

Today's Hawaii Picture of the Day is more Birds. This little finch is originally from Australia, but I can tell you at least in my neighborhood, we've got plenty of them here in Hawaii.



Aloha til tomorrow,
Todd

Continuing on with one of my mini-themes here on this this blog ... military aircraft



Today's Hawaii Picture of the Day is an OH-58D flying over Wheeler Army Airfield. This is also the main aircraft that I supported last year when I was in Iraq.

Aloha til tomorrow,
Todd

... or as my wife likes to call it, "my favorite store".



Seriously, this little NEX mini-mart is definitely one of the conveniences of living here in Iroquois Point. I probably do average at least one visit a day to the mini-mart ... the days I don't go are made up for on the days when I "forget" something the 1st or even 3rd time I walk over and have to make a return trip later.

With gas prices now pretty much $4 a gallon all over the Island, even the couple of cents a gallon I save by filling up at a military pump is worthwhile. And the fact that I have a military gas station 2 minutes from driveway makes the task even that little bit easier.

In addition to gas, I'm probably their biggest Diet Mt. Dew and chocolate chip Cliff bar customer. We also get pretty much all of our milk and bread there.

Sad as it is to say, the quote from my wife above probably isn't far off the mark ... I really do like our little store.

Aloha til tomorrow,
Todd