Typhoon Alley

You know the sound you hear when you are waiting in line for a roller coaster ride at an amusement park?  The loud screeching and swishing sound.  People screaming as it goes up and then drops.  That is what it sounds like inside my house.

When we first received orders to Japan I quickly found out that Okinawa is smack dab in the Pacific's "Typhoon Alley".  Typhoons are known as hurricanes in the United States.  The typhoon season is from June to November with as many as 26 typhoons hitting in a season.  We are going on day 3 of experiencing our first super typhoon.

Just to clarify, this is actually the 2nd typhoon that has hit since we have been here.  We arrived in the middle of a typhoon.  I remember seeing the ocean water turning as we were flying in and praying we would land safely.

We have been in typhoon condition 1 emergency (the worst condition classification) for over 36 hours.  We are waiting on them to put us into recovery, but from the looks of things outside that may not happen for a while. 

In the mean time I have been pulling out my hair enjoying time with my family.  Landen has been very busy.  As soon as this storm is over I am buying him some new toys.  He does not have enough.  I wish I would have realized this before the storm hit.

I have been occupying my time with thoughts of Halloween costumes for Landen.  One of the hardest decisions of my life.  It is so tough to find cute things for boys.  Why do they make all cute stuff for girls?  Disney for instance has 18 Halloween items for boys.  They have 55 for girls.  After extensive searching I have pretty much narrowed it down to these:





I know, I know, the decision is just so dang hard.  Any thoughts?

A typhoon is a good way to deter anyone from getting in trouble with the law.  I have only been confined to my house for 3 days.  I can't imagine what it would be like to go to jail.  Plus, I have all my amenities (computer, TV, food).  Before the typhoon hit I stocked up on rented movies and snacks.  I bought jelly beans, dots, tootsie pops, candy corn, and gummy sharks.  Yes, I am aware that is the diet of an 8 year old. 

I also have not been able to workout this entire time.  I can feel myself growing.  I refuse to step on the scale (actually that is a lie, those of you who know me well know I have an emotional attachment to my scale).  Yesterday I got out my exercise ball and dusted off the cobwebs.  I am sore today. 

For our typhoon dinner I made really good turkey fried rice.  Here is the recipe:

2 eggs, scrambled

1/2 lb ground turkey

2 green onions, sliced

3 cups cold cooked rice

1/4 cup of fresh chopped cilantro

1/4 cup soy sauce

2T chunky peanut butter

1t sugar

1/2t garlic powder

2T chopped red pepper

1/4t ground ginger

Cook turkey and onions in a larger skillet over medium heat.  When done, add rice and cilantro.  Combine remaining ingredients in a separate bowl.  Stir well, then pour into skillet.  Add egg and stir until heated through.  I served it with steamed broccoli.