Family game night...

What have we been doing at our house? Well with Winter happening and snow still on the ground in our town. Yes there's still snow in the rice fields and in yards in my town, 10-11 days later or so, which is so unusual. @_@ We have been staying home and staying warm. We've also been having family game night as usual. We played three rounds of this Jenga-esque type of game last weekend. Sorry the name brand Jenga game is like 2800 yen (US $25!!!) Which is outrageous. And this knock off/"no name" brand one... was like 750 yen or 800 yen, 10 years or so when we bought it. My kids go through periods of when they want to play this a lot and times when they won't touch it at all. But they've been on a Jenga kick since Christmas/winter break and all January too. This pic was taken last weekend and we played 3 rounds of this. We also played 2 rounds of this the other night after homework. 

Also, important to note is sometimes... games change as kids get older too. However we still play Sorry! About once a month still... that's one of our favorite board games. This pic is of my 3 (2 sons and hubby) all playing a game together. But this game is a survival game and Branden and Noah have been playing this game since November 2017. Branden's classmates also got really into this game too. It's a multiplayer game. So a lot of times Branden and a handful of his classmates will have a private game going and they invite Noah to play with them too. Bran is such an amazing older brother. You can hear your teammates talking which is why they are wearing earphones. Then a month ago...Noboru was intrigued and asked the boys "what are you guys playing" they told him the name of the game and he said...I want to play too. So he downloaded it and Noboru has been playing it for a month now. Then Noboru told his 2 closest coworkers about this and they fell in love with this game so much. And now...they have this group and they all know each other and they all play this survival game. They're *really* into it! Noboru can't wait for the kids to get home from school to play with them. And as soon as Bran walks in the door after I bring him home from the train station after school...he tells his dad and Noah..."let's play after dinner" And so as a girl...I don't personally find this game interesting at all. Gomen-gomen. But I am so happy that they have this 1 thing that they're all reall super into. They want to play this. And so that's what my family has been doing. They laugh at the kitchen table and play this. Sometimes they're all over the living room sprawled out and playing this. It's family time. And they're having an absolutely amazing time together. Dad time is so important. Dad's spending time with their kids is very important and same for us mom's too... spending time with our kids, quality time so important. Heck..family time is important period. : )

I enjoyed watching the 20/20 a few weeks ago about Kim Jong Un's childhood. And his siblings childhood. How they were educated overseas. It was very interesting. 

A new game show in America. I am enjoying it a lot. It's called Child Support. Fred Savage is the host. I adored him on the Wonder Years. A contestant has to answer 10 questions and if they don't know the answer, a group of kids can try to help him or her answer it. The show was created by Ricky Gervais and he is the one who interviews the kids and it's so funny to watch him interact with the kids.

You go Fred Savage. He's a really mellow relatable host. 

Ricky asking the kids a question. Hopefully they know the answer.

One of the answers, one of the kids said...was so funny Ricky did this!!!

Child Support is a very funny game show. My kids love this game show and they watch it every time it's on. 

The Good Doctor is such a phenomenal show. I love this show. This pic was taken a week ago. But this week was a good episode too. It was about organ donors. A man had been in the hospital for ages hoping for a transplant. He was an alcoholic and ruined his own liver. And he was finally at the top of the organ donor list. He was weeks away from dying. And The Good Doctor (Dr. Murphy) and his coworker went to retrieve the organ from another hospital. Anyway it took the entire show for them to get back to their hospital. The guy on the top of the donor list had tested positive for alcohol in his system and they ran the test twice and asked him. Did you drink? And he finally admitted he had 1 glass of champagne because his daughter graduated law school. Yada yada yada. And he wanted to feel "normal" and so it was debated should they still give him the organ? Doctors debated it in private. They argued. One said...rules are rules. And someone said don't tell them he had a drink. And in the end... they did not give him the organ at all. With 30 minutes to spare...to get the liver into someone... they sent the liver to a 3rd hospital to the 2nd person on the top of the organ donor list. And the guy at the Good Doctors hospital was moved to the bottom of the transplant list. 

Last week, I picked up these things from Costco. Frozen pizzas to toss in the oven for a weekend lunch for the kids. Breakfast pastries. Cheese was for pizza and chips for the killer nachos I made last week, they were delicious. And a weeks worth of meat from Joyful Honda meat store. And veggies and regular food from Besia. 

I did buy my final makeup remover. I will not be buying anymore. I am now trying them all out and testing them and deciding which one I like the most. I also bought a Kanebo powder puff for my Becca powder. 

This is what it looks like. I like that it's in a  tube (travel friendly). I like the way it smells. It's light and clean. A scent of somewhere between soap and very light pinch of lemons. It smells clean. Anyway now for some current updates.....

Today is Thursday. Sorry no TBT for today. I went out to lunch this Monday with my 2 girl friends. We had an awesome lunch and whole afternoon chat session at Coco's restaurant. Lunch was delicious and the drink bar is amazing. I love their hot cocoa and so that was nice. Also we, my 2 friends and I are also going to the movies tomorrow morning/Friday. We are going to see, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. In Japan it's just called Three Billboards. However...snow is expected in the area where we live...the snow is expected either tonight or tomorrow. And we have agreed if it snows...we will cancel our movie date. But if it doesn't snow, we will meet up at 9:10 am tomorrow.  Because of the upcoming snow. I went and did my weekly shopping yesterday. Went to Costco. Joyful Honda and Besia. Yet again. But it was necessary because if it does snow...you certainly don't want a house with no food in it. I want to make sure I have a house fully stocked with food. That way...if the snow hits us and hits us hard. We will have a good 6 days worth of food. So phew. Taken care of. I bought a rotisserie chicken at Costco yesterday and so I am making taquitos for supper tonight. Taquitos and refried beans and spanish rice. The beans I boiled and finished this morning. After Noah gets home I will refry the beans. And make the rice. The taquitos are easy to roll. I will roll them... but won't skillet fry them until Bran gets home tonight. Noboru is home from work today, so he will be happy about taquito night tonight. : ) Tomorrow night for supper we're having curry nabe because with me being out at the movies...maybe depending on the snow, I need an easy to make dinner. Anyway that's enough for now, just wanted to touch bases with everyone real quick. : ) 

Update...

How's everyone doing? Things here have been quiet and nice. It's been so super cold in Japan. So many areas have been hit with snow (Kyushu, Osaka, Tokyo, etc all hit with snow). But not our tiny town. No snow at all. Just freezing cold every single morning when I drop off Branden in the morning to the train station. And the sun starts to peek out by the time I drop off Noah to elementary school. But when I drop off Bran, it's like the deep freeze outside. Hahaha. Anyways, What have I been doing? Chillin' and enjoy our quiet uneventful January. Staying indoors and staying warm. I made cream stew one night last week. This is my favorite type...Hokkaido corn cream stew. It's super delicious. What else...

I made karaage. We don't eat deep fried too often. But, I will make karaage once a month and chicken cutlet or ebi fry once a month. About twice a month for us for deep fried. The big amount of chicken breast was for dinner and the smaller ziplocks were for the kids school obento and the other was for Noboru's obento and my lunch at home the following day. 

This was chopped up around 11:55am. And I always add a tube of ginger to my chicken first. It instantly mellows out the chicken flavor. And infuses an amazing ginger taste. I let it marinate for about 30 minutes just with the ginger. 

I buy generic brand X/store brand ginger because it's like only 59 yen a tube. Versus 98 yen a tube. And after 30 minutes of marinating with just the ginger. I then leave the ginger in there obviously and add this karaage liquid in the ziplock bags. 

From 12:30 pm-ish until about 4:30 pm. As soon as everyone is home. I roll in plain unseasoned flour. And then fry in a clean batch of oil. And it's very flavorful and so good. We had ours with macaroni salad. Steamed broccoli and rice. 

Not sure if you can see in this pic...but a new mole had come to our house. 

He made a good sized mole hill. Noboru was pretty mad. As you may know Noboru has caught/killed 2 other moles who came into our yard. I think all moles in this area must...dislike my husband so much. Since he is a mole killer. Hahaha. As of right now. It's been about 5 days and so far Noboru can't catch this new mole. @_@ 

What else has happened? I baked a batch of cornbread. 

Last week, I went to Costco Inzai/Chiba New Town. I was already in the parking lot by 10am and grabbed my cart and headed into the store. I was on my way home pretty quickly. I picked up a big amount of lean 100% ground beef. A rotisserie chicken which I turned into taco night. A huge amount of flour tortillas. Mozzarella cheese. Provolone and a big hunk of Colby/Jack cheese. The Easter stuff is already for sale at Costco Japan. Just a friendly FYI.

Not sure about other locations. But if you hit my store before 10:30am, on a weekday... you can shop in peace and quiet and with hardly anybody there. I love shopping here on the weekdays in the morning as soon as they open up.

Not even many people in the food court or ordering food. I haven't eaten at Costco for lunch in ages, even though I shop at Costco about 3 times a month...I just haven't eaten lunch there...so I had a slice of pizza this day... before heading back to my tiny town.

A quick slice of combination pizza.

I also ran into the Besia grocery store after Costco, they're both right near each other. And this was on sale for 500 yen for a box/case of these. My kids love these yogurt drink boxes so to get a case of these for super cheap was a deal. 

I put them all in the fridge and that way when the kids want one, they can get one.

What else have I been doing? I have still been doing my weekly house cleaning. Daily house cleaning. And cooking of dinners. I am still loving washing every one's bedding, blankets and fleece blankets and pillow cases etc every single week at home in my bigger washing machine, that I got in August? Or was it September, but yes a bigger washer totally helps. All of my bedding can fit in 1 load. And the kids bedding can fit together in 1 load. There is seriously nothing nicer than laying down on fresh bedding. 

Movie, yes a movie! Last week, at the beginning of the week... Bran asked me, if he and his bestie could go to see a movie on Friday? Last Friday. His bestie is hafu too. His bestie was born in Japan but raised outside of Japan and went to an international school, so he prefers English. Where as Branden was born in Hawaii and moved to Japan around 10 month's old. They wanted to go and see...the new Kingsman movie. Yes I know...we have the DVD. And I told Bran, "if you want, ya'll can watch your DVD during lunch at school, just take my mini DVD player" But Bran said...the fun part is going on the adventure to the movies with my friend, getting there and coming home. Keep in mind... Bran is from the inaka, meaning he's a country boy. I never let him run wild or go out and about after elementary school or in JHS either, unless it's just in the neighborhood sure but farther than that? Nope. In our country town kids in shogakko went zarigani hunting/crawdad hunting. Or fishing. Riding bikes in the neighborhood was it really. They're not train savvy... like city kids are in Japan. So since he's a 9th grader now...he's learning. He's a super good kid. So I said. Okay. So they got out of school Friday at 3:45pm. They ran to catch the train to Narita. Took the shuttle and they caught the 5:20pm showing of the movie. Bran had movie and popcorn money and money for dinner afterwards. Again Bran is an extremely good kid. Both my kids are. They don't just disappear. They know...I am letting them out and about... because I am trusting them. So, he messaged me when they got on the train heading to Narita....then took 2 pics inside the movie. This one and...

This one. I replied to Bran..."have fun kiddo but shut your phone off, lol" He told me later, he had the rice cracker and peanut mix. And his bestie picked french fries. apparently they didn't want popcorn. LOL. 

And as soon as the movie let out...he sent me this pic. There is a walkway from the Narita Humax (movie theater) that goes back and forth to the Aeon mall. His message said...a quick..."mom, the movie is out and we're gonna go eat dinner now" I replied..."have fun" I know the type of kid I have. He's certainly no punk jerk bad kid. He's an extremely good kid. Good student. Extremely respectful of adults and other people. He told me at home. He picked udon to have for dinner and his bestie picked McD's. 

Bran and his bestie caught the shuttle back to the Narita train station. His bestie went back to the bustling Chiba city. And Bran returned to our teeny tiny town. Where I was waiting in my car at the train station for my kiddo. He doesn't message me constantly, so please don't get it twisted. Just a few handful of times to keep me in the loop. And I appreciate that... because it's such a peace of mind. I'm glad I raised such responsible kids. And same for Noah. He has a cell phone. In Japan kids often have cells. And when Noah plays at the park inside our housing community. He will message me once or twice while playing. Keeping me in the know of...who he is playing with. And what time he will head home. It's also a big relief that Japan is just such a safe place to raise kids. 

I bought a small turkey last week. And I roasted it on Monday of this week. This was only an 8 and a half pounder. So quite small. I seasoned him quite well and he came out very juicy. I wanted the turkey for sandwiches. Both Bran and Noah took turkey sandwiches to school on Tuesday. And we had a simple turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy dinner on Monday night. The turkey is gone now... but it was nice to get 1 dinner out of it and about 2 sandwiches out of it, for each of us. So that was nice. : ) 

Half way there pic, while carving the turkey.

Anyway anything else to add? Branden doesn't have school today or tomorrow. Why? Because this is the season for JHS students, 9th grade kids. To take exams to get into high schools in Japan. So because kids are testing today and tomorrow. Branden and the rest of the kids at his high school... do not have school today and tomorrow since the final year JHS kids are testing at his school today. 

Our weekend. Flu shots taken. The outlet mall yet again. Typhoon Lan with pics. Lots of good meals at home. And a Costco run...

So last Wednesday, as I was at the plaza picking up Noah from school. As you know Branden came home early because of his 3 days of high school tests. So Bran was home and it was now the end of school day at the local elementary school. Wednesday October 18th and as I was standing outside my car and chit chatting with 2 of my mom friends. They were saying, a typhoon is heading our way. It might hit Chiba prefecture hard this time. And the other one was like...say what? When? And so she said it's coming this weekend sometime. Either Saturday, Sunday or next Monday. And so us 3 sat there. Wondering would it actually hit Chiba prefecture or lose it's steam as usual by the time is goes all the way through other parts of Japan first. Like it usually does. So we wondered. But we all said, we would prepare a little anyway, just in case and thanks for the heads up. So, Noah came down the hill that day and said. Our school said a typhoon is expected this coming weekend sometime. I thanked my kiddo for the heads up too and I said...so and so's mama just told me and.... so and so-kun's mom about this too. So...I think we had 8 rolls of toilet paper left last Wednesday. And we had enough food to last our home until Monday October 23rd. So food, I wasn't worried about and drinks...I had 2 cases of mugicha. 5 bottles of jasmine tea. A brand new carton and a half of milk. About 15 eggs left. And tons of veggies and whatnot. But just thinking about it. So Thursday, I ran to Costco in the morning after both my kids went to school. I went for just a case of toilet paper. And another pack of eggs (there's 20 in the Costco egg packs) and that's it. 

I also went into the Matsumoto Kiyoshi near Costco in Inzai and bought a new tin of shea bath powder. I figured what a cozy way to ride out a typhoon. Or a weekend of rain. I made sure I was back in my town by the time Bran got home on Thursday. On Friday, Branden got home super early and he told me. "my teachers all told us that school will most likely be canceled on Monday because of the typhoon, because most of us use trains to get to school and trains are expected to either be delayed or cancelled all together, that day." And sure enough by 9am Saturday, Branden's school emailed and said they decided to cancel school Monday for everyone. Branden was thrilled. 

I baked a yellow cake with chocolate frosting on Friday on Friday morning, sliced 2 rows and as soon as Bran got home, he had a slice immediately. And I made some delicious tacos for supper after everyone came home. For us to really enjoy the weekend about to start. And with a typhoon expected to hit sometime. We were all set. With plenty of food. And we had DVDs and plus we have excellent American cable TV. So we were set. Here at our house. And well prepared for Typhoon Lan/Typhoon 21. I picked up Noah on Friday after school and Noah also said his school might be canceled on Monday because of the typhoon and sure enough by 10am Saturday for Noah's school...they emailed all of us and also said, school was canceled for Monday. So, both my kids now officially had a 3 day weekend. Woohoo.

Homemade shells. I buy the soft corn tortillas from Kaldi and fry them up my own, so super easy. Branden said...store bought shells are good, but nothing beats homemade shells. We had chicken breast tacos and also I made lean ground beef ones too. And we all had yellow cake with chocolate frosting for dessert. Even though the kids had some cake as soon as they each got home from school. : )

The Amazon DVDs got here Thursday night around 7pm. Via DHL. 

We had movie night both Saturday and Sunday night. We watched Spiderman Homecoming on Saturday night. And Transformers The Last Knight on Sunday. The kids picked which movies we'd watch. And I still haven't had my chance to watch The Big Sick or Everything, Everything. : ( But, I will get my chance, I know. So I am just being chill. And I know I'll get my chance this weekend. : ) So it's cool. So Friday was low key. We all were well prepared for the typhoon. Noboru in the day time Friday....went around the yard and put anything that could tumble during the typhoon away. And I put the Fall wreath that usually hangs on my front door and scarecrow in the shed for the weekend. From Friday, until Monday afternoon after the typhoon had left. So we had the house all free of anything that could possibly take a tumble and go flying through the neighborhood. All hanging baskets on the front porch were put safely inside our shed. And we basically did our typhoon prep Friday afternoon. So by the time Friday evening happened. We enjoyed dinner. Cake. And we were all hunkered down and ready for Typhoon Lan!

Saturday morning. We all quickly woke up and got dressed and quickly ready for the day. We all had a quick fast bakery bread toasted with butter and yogurts. We left the house at 9:30am and went to the Ami Premium outlet mall. Gosh are we getting sick of that place! Hahaha. Our nearest outlet mall to our home. We went into the Gap. With the intention to get Noah 2 sweatshirts and 2 long sleeves. And we bought just that. Also wanted to mention everything was at 30% off sale already for that weekend. However there was a "morning additional sale" And for a limited time until 11am, everything in the store was an additional 20% off and they were handing out white plastic Gap shopping bags and they said when they give the last one the sale will be finished. Only the people with the white bags, they were handing out would get 50% off. So whoever was lucky enough to have grabbed a white plastic Gap shopping bag, they got everything that morning for 50% off. A 1 hour only sale. And we caught that. Wow. Right on! Dressing our sons cute plus while still saving tons of cash...so super happy about that!!! Nothing wrong with grabbing a great deal.

One bright green Gap zip up sweatshirt and 1 bright happy yellow pullover Gap sweatshirt. 

Noah is in the largest size for Gap kids. He's not in the largest size for kids at Old Navy however though. 

And 2 adorable long sleeve tops from Gap too. And for 50% off. We got everything for half off. 

I could tell by Noah's face last weekend that he too wanted to be included and get the same sweatpants as Branden and I picked last week. But, I was unsure if they had a size XXS. And Noah's never worn adults sizes yet for clothes. But, I had Noah try on the XXS and XS sizes this weekend. The XS were enormous. And the XXS were perfect. I asked Noah...would you like to be twinsies with Bran and I? Technically triplets... but when peeps dress the same doesn't matter... they call it being twinsies regardless of how many there are. He smiled and said...sure! I always want both my kids to always feel included. 

So 3 of us are twinsies. We did ask Noboru if he wanted to get a pair too? He was like..thanks but I like my Uniqlo pair. LOL. By 11am, we were heading back to our tiny town. With 35 eggs at home. I boiled 10 and made a batch of egg salad. I rinsed some lettuce. And we all had egg salad sandwiches for lunch Saturday. Our flu shot appointment wasn't until 3pm. Although we left the house around 1:45pm. Arrived by 2pm. And we were out of the doctors office by 2:35pm. 

Before we left to the doctors for all our flu shots. I quickly chopped up curry nabe veggies. I peeled and diced up 2 potatoes. A whole small cabbage. A pack of mushrooms. From 11:30am to 1:45pm. I made lunch and did dinner prep. I knew working hard right then, would lead to a restful night later.

I diced up a pack of chicken tenderloins that I had in my freezer since the week before. I buy these from Japan Meat in Inzai. Less than $4 feeds a family of 4, yes. And I also add in 12 chicken meatballs for Noboru since he loves those. The kids and I prefer sliced up chicken sesami though. I put the diced up chicken in a ceramic bowl and wrapped it with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge until we came back from the doctors from our flu shot appointment. I washed my hands twice. And we left to the doctors office. Flu shots here we come!!!

It's been all over the news but there's a big shortage of flu shot vaccinations in Japan this year. And so whoever waits until the last second will most likely not be able to get one. There are over a million less than less year. Again though, I was glad that I always make our appointment right away for our shots. And so I knew, ours were reserved and waiting for us. It's peace of mind knowing our kids and Noboru and I now have our flu shots. And ours are paid for 100% by Noboru's job. So for us they're totally free. Branden getting his shot Saturday around 2:10pm. And yes, I always have my kids wear short sleeve shirts underneath a sweatshirt. Those poor nurses and doctors always have the darndest time when folks wear long sleeves...yet they need to give you the shot in your upper arm. So...to make things easier for everyone... I always have my kids wear short sleeves. You have no idea how much our nurses appreciate that we all do that, every year!!! : )

Noah getting his flu shot, Saturday about 2-3 minutes after Branden did. I went after Noah and Noboru went last. Flu shots 2017 are done for our family now! Woohoo!

Branden gets about 3 haircuts a month. He loves getting his haircut. He likes his hair looking clean and tidy looking. And plus his hair grows like a weed. He actually needs haircuts that often. Noah's hair on the other hand grows slower than you could ever imagine and he hates going to the barber and he only goes about once a month. But they both go to the 1000 yen barber in the small city nearest our town. Anyways...while at the doctors office, Branden asked. Since we were in the small city anyways...for the flu shots...could he gets a haircut? Honestly...he needed one. And dinner was prepped. The rice was in the rice cooker already set with the timer on. And so...yeah sure. You can go and get a haircut. So, there was no parking space at the barbers because the bakery and whatnot people were parking there, so we parked across the street. However the barber was deader than a doornail. Meaning Branden zipped right in...and got his hair cut. Noboru went with him and waited, Noah and I meanwhile sat in the car and watched TV in the car while we waited. In 10 minutes there they stood together in this pic... about to cross the street and get in our car and go home. Branden was happy with his spiffy new hair cut. And I was happy and relieved we had all gotten our flu shots and Noah now has 4 sweatshirts total. And so...we're getting closer to done regarding our winter clothes shopping. Plus dinner was prepped. And we were already hunkered down at home...all flower planters and whatnot removed and put away. So we were now ready. Saturday around 3:30pm and we were now heading home. 

Sent Branden to take a quick shower since he had just got his hair cut. And sent Noah in after Bran. Meanwhile I threw all the meat and veggies in and things started to boil up quickly and nicely. Before you know it, we 4 were sitting at the kitchen table. Pulling yummy udon noodles out and chicken sesami/tenderloin, potatoes, bean sprouts, cabbage. Noboru was pulling out meatballs and whatever he wanted too. And we sat and just enjoyed the end of Saturday. Sundays plan was to stay home, stay safe. We enjoyed our curry nabe Saturday night. With bowls of rice. We drank mugicha/jasmine tea or straight tea, your choice. I jumped in the shower real quick after dinner clean up. And Noboru went after wards. I popped some popcorn. And when all of us were ready we threw on Spiderman Homecoming. We loved it. A nice way to end Saturday. Sunday. Was raining. And we watched how it was hitting various parts of Japan on the news. It seemed to hit according to 2 of my very close friends who live in Osaka. It seems Osaka got slammed hard by the typhoon. It also seemed to hit Shizuoka quite hard too. I am glad that it did lose steam by the time it got to my particular area of Chiba, near Ibaraki. We got tons of rain. We did. It rained and rained and rained. But, I see no structural damage in my town at all. And on Monday we drove to Inzai to pick up Bran's birthday cake and again...we saw lots of flooded with water areas. But no structural damage like there was in Osaka. So our part of Japan did get tons and tons of water. But...on the news... seems train tracks were broken in Osaka. That was on the news. I hope they got those fixed. Again one of my friends who lives in Osaka saw a shed collapsed. And some roofs torn up. I just didn't see any signs of tangible physical damage here in our area other than gobs of rain. Already harvested rice fields drowned in rain. Smart farmers! But other than that. Nothing really noteworthy around where we live. And that's a good thing!!! Everyone took turns soaking in a hot shea bath at home after showers Sunday evening. I made baked chicken parmesan on top of pasta Sunday night for supper. Comfort food to ride out the typhoon. I also made a delicious bacon and eggs breakfast Sunday morning too. 

We didn't leave our house until Monday. These pics are from Monday. See this picture? Looks like 2 rivers right? Wrong. The water farthest back IS the actual real river. And the 1 closer river is not a river at all. That's flooding. That's usually a grassy weedy area to park your car to go and enjoy the river. And the closest thing to us is a sidewalk.The water should go back down in a day or two. But yep tons of rain in my area.

See the white ripples? That's how windy it was Monday. Monday was super hot weather-wise after the typhoon. I assumed it would be a cool day. I wore a sweatshirt. Needless to say I melted the whole time I was at Costco Inzai. I was not expecting it to feel like summer time outside. @_@  That's Mt. Tsukuba in the background. Yes, I am close to Tsukuba in Ibaraki. In fact the other side of this river is Ibaraki. That's HOW close I live to Ibaraki. I seriously live so super close to Ibaraki. LOL. 

This is sad. Because nobody works harder than farmers in my opinion. Look at the rice fields?!!! Totally submerged. It looks like a lake. It's not. And it looked like that all over my town and all the way to Inzai too. The bright side or silver lining is...farmers are much too smart and they frankly harvested their rice in early September. So their rice fields were flooded yes, but there was nothing the rain could damage. Farmers are too smart. Farmers 1 point Typhoon 0.  The rice had already been cut.  So while other areas of Japan got lots of wind damage and structural damage. We didn't get that. It did lose steam by the time it reached our town. Sorry. However...we did face the wrath of huge rainfall. Flooding types of amounts of rain. Whoever's crazy enough to have built their house at rice field/ lower land level. Perhaps their homes might have got flooded too? I do not know. I honestly do not know. Our housing community is built on a naturally elevated higher part of town. You can see when you see my backyard how much lower and down below the rice fields are. So we're not at flood level/rice field level at all, not even remotely. And our house is not in a mudslide area either. Noboru was really smart when he picked the spot to build our house. The original parts of town/older parts of town are at rice field level. So...hopefully my kids classmates who live near there...their houses are okay. Though I am sure they're old school enough to know to toss sandbags and stuff to prepare by Friday. They're smart folks.So yep...just wanted to share a few pics of flooding. And as for our house in particular. Our house got zero damage. 

Noboru will be working on Bran's birthday October 26th. And Bran wanted a Costco cake versus an ice cream cake. So, I ordered it last week. And 2 weeks ago, I brought home 2 papers and let Bran read his choices and he picked American football. I filled the form out last week and we picked the pick up date to fall on Monday October 23rd. We figured we could take Branden out to dinner at the restaurant of his choice Monday. And we would have cake and ice cream on Monday October 23rd. And considering the cake is ginormous we will be eating cake until the weekend I'm sure. However with the typhoon approaching. Either Sunday or Monday. And not knowing if we would be able to pick up the cake or not. We were relieved that...it did lose steam in our area/part of Japan. Because by Monday 9am it was long gone. Slightly windy Monday and super hot. But other than that not even a drop of rain. Nothing. Our area just got huge amounts of rain Sunday night to Monday early morning ended around 6:30am. And that was it. We were lucky to be able to cruise right to Inzai. Roads were totally fine. And we did grab a weeks worth of meat beforehand at Japan Meat. And then hit Costco. Grabbed what was needed and went back to our town ASAP. : ) My kids took rotisserie chicken sandwiches today to school. With those dinner rolls. You see Mexican style cheese. Mozzarella cheese. Tortillas. Dinner rolls, a rotisserie chicken, a birthday cake. 

Yeah provolone stop trying to hide...we see you!!! ; )

Ice cream. One big container will go for the birthday cake and the other container will be turned into peanut butter ice cream. We went home. Unloaded the car. Brought lunch for the kids. And we relaxed for a few hours. It was a restful Monday. And about 5pm, we went to dinner for Branden's early birthday dinner. celebration. He wanted to go to Jolly Pasta. And we're lucky now that there are 2 Jolly Pasta's in Ibaraki now. There used to be just the 1 in Mito. Which is way too far for us. But now there's one way closer to us. This one just opened September 27th this year. It's a 30 minute drive from our home. Where as the other one in Chiba was an hours long drive. So this ones much closer. And the one in Chiba City has traffic for days. Where this one is all inaka back roads and no stop lights. So we zipped there in no time. 

The most beautiful sunset the 4 of us saw on Monday October 23rd long after the typhoon had passed. On our way to dinner.