Meeting Typhoon Kompasu

Holy Crap. I am staring down the barrel of a rather vicious and nasty Typhoon, and per usual, Mr. Top Gun isn't around. 

This little surprise was well, just that! A damn surprise! Nobody saw this coming, and we figured it would pass well away from us. Not so, not so. I was woken up Sunday morning by Mr. informing me that he would be leaving with his plane sometime soon. Again, not a surprise about him leaving, but I am pissed that I have to ride another damn typhoon out ALONE. This one is a nasty one, apparently. We are expected to have the outer bands of rain and winds moving in around this evening, with the worst of the storm passing over us to the east of the island (Thank GOD I am on the other side!) I am not looking forward to 60-80 mph winds, but it looks like it will be in the late morning from around 8am to 2pm.


I am hunkered down in our house, protected by concrete and steel. The house still shakes and it creaks, but these homes here were built to typhoon standards. In fact, off base housing cannot be approved by the Japanese government unless it meets those high standards. I have extra towels stuffed in the windows, and in between the sliding glass door. Last is to place towels around the door downstairs (which is a beast of a storm door!!) I doubt anything is gonna get in, but just to be safe :) Hopefully I can walk Keely this evening before the rain and bad winds start, because if not?? She is using the tile floor! 


I am going to try to get some video from inside the house of the winds- but I'm not promising anything. I think I will just live in the laundry room for the half of the day tomorrow... Ugh. Pray for me!

Rotten Neighbors

I wish we found this before we moved in...

Fences make great neighbors. NO Crap!! Seriously, I just about had a mild heart attack the other evening over a pleasant altercation with my less than friendly (and morbidly overweight and plain nasty neighbor.) As you may recall via my prior post, there have been some issues with a few of our neighbors around here. Specifically, the fact that they seem to take joy in poisoning the stray cats that people feed. While I understand that some people don't like the cats being around, there isn't a damn thing anyone can do about it. They are STRAYS. Strays roam around, they eat whatever and whenever they can, and they sleep and use the bathroom where they want to. It's not like we live around urine and feces, FYI... we DO NOT. 


It's very disconcerting to me to know that these people have decided to blame us for the stray cats. So, here is a short version of what went down last week: I had walked outside to retrieve something from the car, and sweep some of the trash that the wind had blown up onto the driveway area. I noticed my little girl cat meowing and put down some food for her under the car. (Sidenote:) Our Japanese landlord has a small office downstairs from our house, in what would have been a garage. He comes a few times a week and does his business, waters his plants and also FEEDS and places WATER out for the cats. So, I try to keep the downstairs outside area of his office clean. It's just being a good tenant! I am bent over picking up a trash bag, when I hear a woman calling out to me. "Ma'am. Ma'am! Have you heard from so and so?" She was referring to our housing agent, which NO, I had not heard from. I politely looked up, smiled and said: "Oh my, I have not. Thank you! Have a good night."


I proceeded to walk towards our door, and then I heard this: "You selfish ass bitch!" Ok, seriously not cool lady. I am pregnant and I don't need this stress and I surely do not need a woman who is about 100 lbs overweight yelling at me for no reason. I went upstairs and told Mr. Top Gun, who came outside and dealt with the neighbors. Bottom line from his conversation with them? They are all complete aholes who have nothing better to do than make other peoples lives miserable. So, I have moved feeding the cats to the back of the house and we take food out to them in the fields at night. The assholes are still stealing the landlords food bowls, and he keeps putting them out. LOve it!!

Announcing...

It's... 

A

BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A million things going on with the Top Guns!

I am still alive. I promise! As you may remember, the last time y'all heard from me, I was suffering from a rather vicious UTI. Good news! It's gone away, and I am all better. Kinda bad news? I FORGOT about my blog! Here are a few reasons why...

1. Mr. was on leave for the last few weeks. Y'all all know that he just loves to up and fly away from me without a moments notice, right? Well, then imagine how clingy, I mean excited! I was to hear I would have him all to myself for a few weeks!! Cue the house work being put on hold (ok, not really, but sorta?) and lots and lots of T.V. time and cuddle time together! I was in heaven!

2. Issues with our neighbor from HELL. Want the story? Well, I published it the other day, and blogger erased it! UGH. Here's the scoop again: Basically, they are very noisy and obnoxious people who have yet to grow up out of the 'College phase.' He is also a flyboy, but quite the Junior to Mr... When we moved in over a year ago, they had just moved in as well and we 'met' over moving boxes. Then, Mr. Top Gun deployed and left me to deal with what would happen next... Halloween, 2009 party at the neighbors turned into party from HELL. The Japanese Police were called out, people were arrested for being drunk in public (and most were taken in for walking home drunk, in public.) The Japanese have no tolerance for alcohol related crimes, and they are not lenient one bit with the Americans. I figure this is it, right? NOPE. Loud music, yelling at all hours of the night, parties, parties, parties. Our cars suddenly get a lovely dressing of plastic beer cups and cigarette butts, and our little 'yard' ok, rock garden is looking like crap!

Mr. comes back from deployment and is able to witness the shenanigans. He is at work or flying when this happens, so I deal with it. I am told to 'Shut up' through the window. Yes, and after I politely asked neighbor from hell to please turn his music down. I call our housing agent and he talks to them. Noise stops, and security cameras are placed around the neighborhood. One is placed over his garage! nice! They continue to stay quiet and whenever they see us, run inside.

3. My cats outside are POISONED. By Neighbor from HELL. We had suspected that someone was intentionally trying to hurt them for sometime, as I had found vomit and blood around the cars and on the driveway a few weeks prior to this. As I went out the morning of the incident, I couldn't help but notice our neighbor peering over at me as I bent over to fill up the cat food bowl and refill the water. Mr. and I had some errands to run, so when we left the house I wondered why he decided to take a drive around our block... thank goodness he did, because as we stopped down our street?? We saw our neighbor run over and pour something into the bowls. OMG. Mr. flies down the street and confronts him. For 45 minutes. He admits to having done it, redfaced and all. Needless to say, we probably aren't going to be best friends with our neighbors, but he does wave at us now and asks me how I am feeling. Personally, as long as he leaves my cats alone, I don't care if we ever hear from him again. No cats died, and they have all since returned to eating and being happy, lounging cats around the house!

Aside from the drama listed above, things have been going well around here. It's hot as Hades outside, so I try to limit my time outdoors, or I end up getting all woozy and nauseated. This 105 degree heat index blows during the summer!! I did, however manage to come across some RARE fresh fruit this past week YAY! I proceeded to purchase a boatload of nectarines from our Commissary, and then promptly devoured them within two days. This left me in a flury, because I tasted the delicious and rare goodness of them, and needed more. Did our Commissary have any left a day later? No. Nothing. Two or three mushed and moldy ones. I threw a fit in the store, and told Mr. I refused to purchase the rest of our groceries at that Commissary since they didn't have any more nectarines for me. I may have actually shed a tear or two on the way out. So, we went to the Marine Base and they had them!! I bought them all. I have a few left, and the Commissary has yet to get anymore in. Ugh.

I have baby belly pictures to post later!! Yes, I woke up this week and... Boom! Belly. Not a bump anymore. I have also realized my old jeans no longer fit, and thus have moved into preggo pants. Hey, they are super comfy and don't even look like maternity wear! I love them.

An all expense paid trip to... The ER?!

I am still alive and well. Well, perhaps not exactly 'peachy,' shall we say? Last night I decided it might be a cool idea to develop a nasty UTI, thus granting myself an all expense paid trip to the gorgeous and lavish ER! Luckily, Mr. is on leave for awhile (THANK GOD, it's about time!) so he was here to take me, and we spent a nice two hours together in a room... I am prone to these nasty little buggers, so it's really no huge surprise that I decided to develop one out of the blue while pregnant. My Midwife warned me at my last visit that it would probably happen, and BAM! sidelined by one already. UGH.

The upside to this extremely uncomfortable and annoying medical malady? We got to see baby Top Gun again!! I am pleased to announce that he is well and has tripled in size since my sonogram was taken a few weeks ago. We were able to see him squirming and moving around, and when the Dr. moved the ultrasound device over my belly (all the while pushing down really HARD,) baby Top Gun didn't seem to appreciate his comfy home being 'invaded,' and therefore wiggled and squirmed his legs and arms!! Mr. Top Gun had a better view than I did from the bed, and he said he was able to see ten fingers and ten toes, and baby's arms and legs are actually stretched out and look like human legs and arms! He also thinks he could see little bones :) Awww!!

The good news is that I am now on pregnancy safe antibiotics for the next 10 days, and feeling a tad better. If I could just get past this first evening, hopefully I'll begin to feel better tomorrow. NOTE: Baby Top Gun isn't for sure a HE... yet. But, I like to think he is :)

My TDY present?

As you may recall, Mr. Top Gun has been away flying around the world for a few days. I, have been left at home (again,) but found a way to pass the time: Shopping, eating, shopping, and lots of girl talk with one of my fave ladies here! Her hubby is on the crew with Mr. during this TDY, and boy did we have fun while they were away 'playing.'

Yes, he had an ample amount of time to play around in the evenings on this TDY. It is an extremely rare occasion when the guys get a night to themselves, so I am glad he was able to let loose and have some fun. I may or may not have received a few 'tipsy' phone calls from him in the wee hours of the morning... Apparently during their last night out (and boy, have I heard it was QUITE the NIGHT!) he found time to look for my special 'TDY' gift to bring back home to me. On his last TDY, he pranced through the door with a giant black bag. Scared, worried, and full of wonder, I opened it. Inside? A huge handmade blanket with my LONGHORN on it!

So, what did I get from this TDY? Last night during our usual Skype chat, he asked me if I wanted to see my special present. Sure! This is what he held up:

Now, I will be waiting with baited breath by the door for him to walk through it with this little gem... It really is perfect though, because Mr. affectionately refers to me as his "Sexy Lady." Now I can proudly wear this throughout my pregnancy, and whenever I feel like a house? I can peer down at my wrist ;) *Seriously, I am NOT wearing it* It will go in my car.

The land of the non existent fruits and veggies...

Living abroad has challenges. It presents us with new ways of living, learning to understand a new language, adapting to the local customs and cultures, and learning to enjoy the food. Well, here in Okinawa, things are a little different. The houses are very much modernized and built to American standards (our house for example,) is four stories, four bedrooms and three baths, with about 2,000 square feet. HUGE in Japan, and definitely not a home that a traditional Japanese family would live in. The food is amazing, and being able to have the freshest fish and seafood at my fingertips makes me very happy!

What doesn't make me happy about living here? Well, besides being 14,000 miles away from family and friends and dealing with typhoons... Not having FRUIT. Yes, FRUIT. Japan has extremely strict import laws which prohibits the Military from shipping in certain types of fruits and veggies from the states. And, if we are lucky enough to have some make it past customs? Well, they are REALLY EXPENSIVE. Like the cost of dinner for two people expensive. Yes, that bad. Here's a few of the fruits we cannot get here, followed by the ones we can get and how much we pay for them.

Red Delicious Apples: Nope, can't get these here. They got dressed up for the party, but they aren't getting in.

Granny Smith Apples: Nope, not joining the party either.
Jalapenos: We get these in the Commissary, but we pay $12.99/ lb for them!! Want Habaneros? Fork over $14.99/lb!
Delicious, tart, red plums: Denied entrance to the party.
Strawberries: We get these, but pay $9.00/lb for them...

Also not allowed access to the party: Peaches, pears, yukon gold potatoes (The potatoes here SUCK!) yellow squash, mandarin oranges, tomatoes that don't rot a day after you pick them up, normal looking carrots... The Japanese carrots are HUGE and look like a sex toy. I'm not kidding!! The cucumbers are thin and tiny (hehe ;) and they taste a little bitter to me. I have begun to purchase my produce at the local markets and the tomatoes are gorgeous!! What I wouldn't do for some a crisp, juicy, and tart granny smith apple! Oh well. Suck it up, buttercup!