Catch up time....sorry it's been so long my friends

Ok, so I now know I'm terrible at updating this thing. Bad Laura! So much has gone on since July. We've been back to the Big Island for a canoe race and to see the volcano again, I went to Chicago in October for a class reunion and to visit family, and here I sit updating my blogspot sitting in Chicagoland once again.

Here is James finishing the Queen Liliuokalani Canoe Race in Kona, HI. It is the largest canoe race in the world.





My oldest brother, Steve, has Parkinsons. Steve found out that he was a good candidate for this Deep Brain Stimulation procedure. The surgery, that he was AWAKE for, lasted between 8 and 9 hours. The doctors insersted two electronic leads (wires), one on each side of his brain. To get these leads in the correct (sweet) spot, they would ask Steve to do stuff (i.e. touch his fingers to his thumb, talk, etc). He obviously went into surgery totally off his Parkinsons medication so when they asked him to talk, they would be able to see what difference the leads really made.

The doctor talked to my sister in law, Jean-Marie and I afterwards, and was very pleased. They said that when they tested the leads that Steve went from not being able to talk at all, to being able to speak fluently! he also mentioned how well his movements were. This is all such great news! Needless to say, my brother has been smiling a lot since the day after his surgery.



I arrived on November 11th and will be looking forward to the day before Thanksgiving when James finally arrives here in Chicago. We will be together here in Illinois for a week together before we both return to the island on December 3rd. Thanksgiving will be spent at my brother Steve's house. Our brother Brian and our sister in law, Joyce will be joining us. It has been quite awhile since we have spent a holiday together, so this Thanksgiving, we will all have plenty to be thankful for.

Here is the lava flow on the big island. What a fantastic sight to see. It just blows my mind away. There are then a few candid photos of James and I. Scenery, golfing, or for those who know me well, you know there has to be a "Coke on Tour" photo at some point.











Thank you for putting up with my long post that is a little out of order, but I'm still working out the kinks on this blog. James and I hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving, full of family, food and fun.

Aircraft Carrier - Kitty Hawk

Yesterday I spent some time in the morning down at Hickam Air Force Base at the end of the harbor waiting for this beauty to pass me by. This is the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk.





They are here in Hawaii for RIMPAC 2008 where a bunch of ships from many countries come together to participate in military excercises.




It's a great thing to catch a ship like this coming in or out of the harbor. Seeing such a thing up close makes you realize what a "floating city" these things really are. I believe this ship currently has 5,500 sailors on board. Absolutely amazing and I'm happy I caught this.

The Weekender Blog Posted on Monday

Yes, living Aloha, living the dream, right? Well, even living the dream doesn't take you away from traffic. Ugghh. Sometimes, no matter where you go on this island, you cannot avoid a backup. It does tend to get quite annoying, but I guess you just have to sit back, relish in what is "the Aloha spirit" and let it ride. Fortunately enough, this back up was after my round of golf at the Navy Marine Golf Course. I do love this course, but I happen to have an awful round when I played there this past Friday.

As awful as I played, I still love the scenery of these island golf courses. Just look at this Monkey Pod tree and the beautiful shadows it casts. What a gorgeous pattern on the ground it creates. It's just beautiful to be under this tree and to just look up and out from underneath. I'll have to take a picture of that and post it.

On the left, is the approach to one of the greens at Navy Marine. You can see the grand palms that surround it. On this course, they planted the palms in groups of seven to commemorate December 7th, 1941, the day of the Pearl Harbor attack. The picture on the right and below are some root systems from some Banyan trees. Aren't these amazing? I just love how the roots just tangle, braid and just create just interest on these trees. Amazing.

One good thing about Friday is that I was prepared for the day. Before I left the house to play golf, I got our dinner together, ready and cooking. I went out on a limb and tried something new. I made "crockpot lasagna". With never making it before, I had no clue what it might turn out like, and with having a husband that is 1/2 Italian and is the one to make homemade lasagna, I knew it was going to go through the taste test. It was so nice to just slap it together and let it cook. I was so happy with the way it turned out and I must say that husband went in for 2nd's. Here is a picture of the finished project. All I can say is yummo and thank God for crockpot cooking! Doesn't it look DELISH?????

On Sunday, James had his canoe regatta, and unfortunately his crew DQ'd in their race for bumping into a flag on their turn. His crew was attempting to qualify for the MacFarlane race on the 4th of July down in Waikiki. Of course with DQing, they didn't qualify and they are done.

FORE!...well, more like 96

Today I golfed at the Westlock Golf Club in Ewa Beach, HI for the first time. It's a Municipal course, which I really don't care to play, but one has to be willing to bend when you don't have a lot of people you actually play golf with.

Westlock is a shorter course than what I am use to and I can't say that the fairways and greens are as nice as I would like, but for now, I like the course.

I like this course because I feel like I conquered it yesterday. I shot my lowest score thus far. I shot a 96. Of course I made stupid mistakes and really had the potential to do a LOT better (i.e. on one par 5, I was on the green in two, putting for Eagle. Of course, I ended up with a par). Of course, one the courses in Hawaii, one never knows what animals you may come across during your 18 holes of play.

Take for instance this kitty taking a nap in a tree. How often do you get to drive up to a tee box, of course waiting for the group in front of you, look to the left and see such a peaceful moment. At this time in our game, I wish I were that kitty. We had to wait so much yesterday, I could have used a nap mid game. There were three other cats around roaming and eating. People actually leave cat food out for these little guys in tupperware type containers. On the other courses here in Hawaii thus far, there have been other animals as well. I have witnessed dogs, mongoose, chickens, and wild boars and pigs. Those boars and pigs you need to be weary about. You never know when one might want to chase you from the tee box or fairway. All in all, I love the game of golf and I'm so happy that my husband and I picked up the game after we moved here. Let me share some more golf photos with pretty scenery.

This is a panoramic shot I put together from the 9-hole golf course, Ft. Shafter. There are a few nice views on this course, and I'm not even talking the boars that we encountered on the 6th tee box. On the very left of this panoramic is Diamond Head and downtown Honolulu with the ocean view. I'm not crazy about this course, but once again, I have to be flexible. The cartpaths are awful, and the fairways are even worse. You don't want to cruise on the fairway if you have a bad back. This place will kill you!

This is taken from the 2nd tee box at Mamala Bay GC on Hickam AFB. This is a beautiful course and a pleasure to play...........as long as you can handle the sound of fighter jets taking off and landing along with commercial flights doing the same. Oh ya, and there is an "Explosive Area" across from the golf course. When those go off, all the car alarms in the parking lot go off. It's actually quite amusing though very startling.

Just another great view at Mamala. Love to see the ships go out and come in.

Well, that is my golf blog for the day. There are more courses to cover and more beautiful scenery to share, but I will save that for a later day. For now, I must go get ready and head out to go to my physcial therapy session for my shoulder. Happy Wednesday to you all!

E Komo Mai (Welcome)

E Komo Mai (Welcome) to our blog. Here we are.......the Mr. and Mrs. , or TNT as we like to call ourselves. Together we have a vision and together we are our own people. That is a great thing, for between the two of us, people are sure to get both points of view, and two levels of creative sight. We hope you enjoy what we bring to share on our blog, and that you will share your own thoughts with us.

Here is Sparky. She is the 4-legged element to the TNT household. Don't let those sad eyes fool you. She is one spoiled little k-9 and knows it. Sparky has been a part of the TNT family before it was even officially TNT. We adopted her from a dalmatian rescue in 2001, and her and I slowly crept our way into James' heart and TNT finally came to be in January 2004. Since then, it's been one happy family.