Typhoon Time! Seriously, I'm scared to death...

Welcome to the Island, Typhoon Morakot! GO AWAY NOW!

Tropical Cyclone Condition of Readiness 3 was issued for Okinawa at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday in advance of Tropical Storm Morakot, the ninth named storm of the season, officials at Kadena Air Base’s 18th Wing Weather Flight said.

Should Okinawa feel Morakot’s full force, it would be the first significant tropical storm to hit the island since Man-yi unleashed 105 mph winds and 10 inches of rain on July 13, 2007.

At 6 p.m. Tuesday, Morakot sat 550 miles east-southeast of Okinawa, churning west-northwest at 12 mph, packing sustained 46 mph winds with 58 mph gusts. Joint Typhoon Warning Center forecasts called for Morakot to rapidly move past Okinawa on Friday and into China early Saturday.

Kadena Weather Flight forecasts call for Okinawa to feel Morakot’s outer bands starting just after 6 p.m. Wednesday, with winds increasing into Thursday, when gusts of up to 70 mph could come between 7 p.m. and 11 p.m. Winds should dissipate by early Saturday morning.

Much depends on the storm’s forward speed, said Senior Master Sgt. Brian McDonald of the 18th Wing Weather Flight.

The storm’s current rapid movement “doesn’t give it a chance to really strengthen much,” he said. “If it slows down dramatically, it will be a stronger storm, which is what we don’t want.”

Base officials strongly recommended securing outdoor items; cobbling together typhoon kits with flashlights, bottled water and nonperishable foods; and putting towels under windows and doors to keep water out.

This is the lovely typhoon that I have been preparing for since Mr. Top Gun came home last night and informed me of this lovely little guests arrival! I was happy and excited that I got an appt. booked in Flight Medicine on Friday, but as he told me: "Yeah, I don't think your appt. is gonna happen..." WTF!!??! I have been here less than two weeks and in that time span have managed to do the following: 1. Managed to find our dream home before mandatory base housing kicked in. 2. Received my Japanese drivers license. 3. Purchased some cars. 4. Learned the basic Japanese greetings, customs and courtesies. 5. Been greeted at the airport upon our arrival and told this.. "Mr. Top Gun is on the next trip to the giant sandbox." "Oh, welcome to Japan!" 6. Received our temporary furniture, went shopping for food and stocked my pantry up. 7. TYPHOON MORAKOT is ON IT'S WAY!!!! 8. Freaked out (still am) ran to the commissary to get 4 HUGE 48 pack cases of bottled water, enough soup to live on for a week, break, milk, plastic baggies of all sizes, tissues for an entire Army, rice, extra towels to mop up water with, ice, plastic cups and bowels and utensils and plates, batteries and flashlights and the best part? Starkist Tuna lunch to go packs- which Mr. Top Gun conveniently picked up in the back of the commissary in the "Typhoon Preparedness Center." Seriously, he was uber excited about having found a 20 pack of them! Oh, Mr. Top Gun you are easily amused and I love you dearly even if you are a donkey :P

I will keep everyone posted as to how things are going over on my side of the pond, as long as I have power and internet access. I would like to ask all of my lovely blog buddies to please keep Mr. Top Gun and I in your prayers as well as the rest of the island, as we all ride this one out. May God keep us in his hands!

My Monday B list...

It's a Monday, and I don't like it. Normally, I don't have a problem with Mondays but this one has got to be the worst- ever. I am exhausted. I am mentally drained, my body is sore, and I want to go out and shop but Mr. Top Gun has the car today. Awesome! I woke up this morning and jumped in the shower hoping to be dressed and ready before the maintenance guys showed up, because god forbid I allow them to see me without my make-up on right? I come downstairs to my computer and find that my parents are on Skype! Yeah!! Then, my grandparents call from Skype at the same time! I ended up talking to them all which made my morning a nice one- because, I don't DO early mornings. Seriously, I got up at 700 this morning and felt like I was half dead. Besides, my body is having major issues with trying to adjust to this wicked time change, and I just want to crawl back into bed!

The maintenance guys show up, fix the wobbly ceiling fan, the screen to the patio, the lock on the front door and they are gone. The Japanese are such hard workers, and it's so neat to see them use my downstairs foyer area and take their shoes off. I need to go out and purchase some slippers for my guests to use now! Next, the internet people drop by... as soon as I see the guy, I realize he has NO idea why he is even here. He looks over at my MacBook on the table and says: "You are stealing wireless from someone, no?" WTF? Uh, the house is already wired for this, and the company KNEW this when Mr. Top Gun and I went in last week to make the appt!!! Ugh!! I asked him if he brought a router for my Vonage to work and he kinda looks at me like I am a space cadet (ok, sometimes I am) but today I am not. I tell him to call his boss because when Mr. Top Gun gets home and finds out that nothing was accomplished, we is going to be one grumpy man and I don't need to deal with that right now. I get him to make an appt. ASAP, and they are going to be back tomorrow with my router! Yeah, then I can call home to Texas all I want to!

I then proceed to call Flight Medicine so that I can have all of my prescriptions transferred from our previous base to here. How hard can that be? Well, when you live in Japan and you have a lovely and oh so damn complicated to use cell phone, making a call is about the HARDEST thing you'll ever do here! I can't find the number. I look for it, rustle through Mr. Top Gun's flight bag and finally find the darn sheet with all the important numbers on it. I call them- I think I called them... nope, phone starts yelling at me in Japanese! What? I don't know what happened, but it took me over an hour to figure out how to call them and finally get my appt. I go on Friday, and by then I shall have my cute little car!

And last but not least... I am tired of hearing F-22's and F-35's ROAR over my house. I have been hearing them non-stop since I got here, and I would appreciate a mere 5 minutes of quiet time... please? Don't get me wrong- I love planes, and the Air Force and I understand their purpose here, but what I don't like is not being able to talk to someone in my own home because they are zooming over the water and over my house every few seconds. I do however, love to walk out onto my many balconies and see them zip over the ocean! They fly in so low that when they get near the water, all you see is the afterburners and the water 'parting' to the side as they fly by. Neat! Now, if they could only be silenced... yeah, I know it's not gonna happen. I'll be used to it in a few days. At least Mr. Top Gun's plane isn't 'rude!' It's loud, but not rude! Enough of my tirades for now. I have laundry to fold and a dinner to start!

5 Times Sexy... Tagging!

SinGal over at Running Through Life Trying to Do Big Things, tagged me so here goes:

Write 5 things that make me feel sexy
- Post a pic (only IF I dare)
- Pass it on to 5 lovely bloggers

I'm going to add photos if I can!

* This dress! It is so comfy, yet sexy and classy at the same time.

* The way I feel when I look at my bridal portrait. I LOVE this so much. Sorry for the small pic- I can't find a larger one!

* Wearing Mr. Top Gun's Favorite, old, comfy and super soft Kansas City Royals t-shirt. Please excuse the house in the picture... We had just moved into furnished base housing in Little Rock and it was Halloween, which explains the horns I am wearing!

* My Christian Louboutin Black Pumps. I LOVE these shoes, and wore them on one of my first dates with Mr. Top Gun. Ironically enough, the waitress inquired about them as I was sitting down at our table and asked me if they were indeed the Louboutin pumps. I said yes, and when she asked the price I whispered quietly to her... Mr. Top Gun heard, and looked at me like I was crazy! Hey, he knew what he was getting into with me and still married me :)

* My last sexy thing...

When I wake-up next to Mr. Top Gun and I roll over looking all haggard and crazy with my hair on top of my head, and he looks at me and says: " God, you are so beautiful." Now, that is what really and truly makes me feel sexy!

Now, I get to tag!!

1. Shoe Goddess (Running in Stilettos)

2. Crazy Shenanigans

3. Bridge (Sunflowers and Dragon Flies)

4. M.G.

5. Rachael (A sweetheart and her soldier)

Shisha Dogs and Sushi

Ok, so here I am living on this gorgeous tropical island in Japan and guess what? I have discovered my new favorite thing: SHISHA DOGS! And you thought I was going to say sushi right? Well, first you probably want to know what the heck is a Shisha Dog? When Mr. Top Gun and I arrived on the island, I began to notice these figurines which sit outside of doors and places of business and they appeared to be some sort of lion. I asked around, and found this out:

Okinawans believe that Shisa-lion sculptures guard against evil sprits. Shisa Lions or Shisa Dogs are commonly represented on the island of Okinawa, which is a part of Japan located in the Ryukyu island chain, Shisa (pronounced ShiSAH) means "Lion dog", and its similar to the Foo dog of China and the Shishi dog of Japan. The Okinawa adapted shisa from China, where they usually served as guardians of Buddhist temples.

Most Okinawan homes, offices, hotels, and even government buildings have at least a pair of these creatures on permanent watch. The Commissary here has a pair when you enter the building. Very cool!

There are some that believe that the "Shisha Dog" or "Shishi" came to this part of the world from ancient Iran where a Lion is still called a "Shere" but over the years somehow morphed into a dog-like "shere," now known as a Shisha-dog.

NOTE: These mythical creatures are known as both Shisha or Shishi dogs. So, here is my deal with these awesome creatures: I LOVE THEM! I have been saying "Shisha Dog" for the last week now, (non-stop almost) and Mr. Top Gun gets a kick out of it when we drive by a building and he points and asks me: "Hey, love what are those things called?" My reply... "SHISHA DOGS!" I looked in the BX for some and these little guys are not cheap. The terracotta ones run around 35-40$ just for ONE. You see, in order for them to work you must purchase two of them. The left one is female and the right one is the male, and when you enter your home they are supposed to take your warrior spirit away, making your house calm and pleasant. I really, really need to find some and put them on our door step. NOW. My warrior spirit is still in our house... and I think it's not going to leave until our household goods arrive!

Our favorite new sushi joint up the road from our house

Yes, that is in the shape of a flower! It is tuna with avocado and spicy sauce.
I have also managed to eat sushi for lunch and dinner about the entire time we have been here. See, I told ya'll I had a serious addiction to sushi when I first blogged, and living in sushi heaven only makes it worse. Mr. Top Gun just smiles at me and laughs, and then hands over his wallet so I can pay for the sushi :)

Pictures galore!

My cute little car! I call it my "Mr. Belvedere" car. I love it!

The steering wheel is on the WRONG side... Oops!

Our actual house! See the three different balconies? I have a lot to clean!

More pictures from Japan

This is my new Japanese car! The roads here are super small and narrow, and people just zip around them- they are nuts. I love this car because I can drive it, it has power everything and a new CD player, and has tons of room in it!

Hi! It's me...

View from one of our balconies

I'm Back!

I'm back!! We have internet in our house now, so I can at least upload ALL of my photos for ya'll to see! Our house is g-o-r-g-e-o-u-s... I LOVE IT!! I now have 2,000 square feet of home to clean- which I shall happily do :) Below are a few pictures for ya'll to see...

Me outside on the third floor of our balcony

Mr. Top Gun and I at the BEST sushi place ever!

View from the sea wall, right down the street from our house!

On the second floor of our home. Living/dining and kitchen.

Me talking on my Japanese cellphone, while in the TLF.

I am going to post the rest of my pictures in my next blog post, so this is post number one of like four!