My Little TDY Bucket List: 25 Things To Do While He’s Gone

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For the first time since we moved to Hawaii, Heff is gone. (It only took the Army 5 months to send him off.) When he goes on long deployments, rotations, or hardship tours, I make a deployment bucket list to keep us busy.

These giant lists have 100 things for me and the kids to do while he’s gone. They are not only a good distraction, but they give us things to look forward to during those long miserable days when we miss him so much. (You can see our first Deployment Bucket List from 2016 and our most recent Deployment Bucket List from 2021 in these posts.)

However, he’s not supposed to be gone very long this time. He’ll only be on this assignment for 60-90 days. So, I made a mini TDY bucket list!

Here are 25 things for us to do while he’s gone:

TDY Bucket List

1. Start going to the gym.
2. Finish macrame leaf project.
3. Do some spring cleaning.
4. Try a malasada from Leonard’s Bakery.
5. Finish my post-licensing real estate class.
6. Refurbish end tables.
7. Hike the Kaena Point Trail.
8. Sand and stain coffee table.
9. Re-pot banana tree and seedlings.
10. Plant petunias and propagated pothos.
11. Re-paint the metal pieces of the tripod lamp.
12. Go to the pool.
13. Help girls decorate their rooms.
14. Celebrate my birthday!
15. Hike to Lulumahu Falls.
16. Go to Kokololio Beach.
17. Start a new Bible study (with the kids).
18. Visit the Byodo-In Temple.
19. Go to Kualoa Beach Park.
20. Try 3 new recipes.
21. Read 5 books.
22. Finish out Lyvi’s volleyball season.
23. Deep clean our vehicles.
24. Visit the Wahiawa Botanical Garden.
25. Organize downstairs closet.

25 items didn’t sound like a lot to me, since I usually make these lists with 100 things to do. However, after I just typed that out knowing that I only have 7-10 weeks left to finish it…. Well, it seems like a lot!

(Many of these items are from our Schofield Barracks Bucket List, so they’re doing double duty!)

Will I finish it?

Who knows? But that’s kind of the point to me. I give myself something to reach for, something to focus on besides how slowly time is passing until he’s back home with us.

Check back here or follow along on Instagram for updates on our little TDY Bucket List!