On the way home from the office today, moving westbound, traffic was even more sluggish than usual. A faint glimpse of smoke up ahead, near the Waipahu off-ramp, did not bode well for weary commuters. As I drew closer, the smoke appeared dense and black, billowing from a Nissan truck that was already engulfed in huge flames. The driver was out of his vehicle a good distance away from the inferno, standing in the middle of the second lane from the right, directing cars to the left. Fire fighters and police were not yet on the scene. Apparently, the blaze started only minutes before.

As expected, people drove by slowly, rubbernecking the entire way. I had a fleeting thought about whipping out my camera to take a photo (or video) of the spectacle, but quickly came to my senses. All I could think about was moving as far away from the burning vehicle as quickly as possible. All of those impressive car explosions I’ve see in the movies came to mind and thoughts of flying shrapnel and flaming truck parts caused me to step on my gas pedal just a little harder as I drove by.

Witnessing such spectacular display of automotive malfunction almost made me happy to fork out $1400 to repair my car this past Saturday. Keeping my car well-maintained (at least internally) is important, especially since driving in rush hour traffic can take its toll. Just don’t ask me how often I wash and wax my car. To my credit, I do try to get it to a car wash before the build up of grime starts affecting my gas mileage. Lucky for me, dirt isn’t flammable.

This was supposed to be Saturday night’s entry, but a killer migraine had me incapacitated and unable to update. *gasp!* So, here are a few pictures I snapped while Hubby and I were out and about Christmas shopping at Ward Warehouse.

This isn’t something you see everyday, an establishment that serves durian in Hawaii. It’s one of the only foods that Andrew Zimmern (from the “Bizarre Foods” TV show) can’t/won’t eat. It’s also banned from certain public places in Asia because of its uncanny ability to offend patrons with its strong, unsavory odor. I suppose it’s an acquired taste. Needless to say, I passed on that and opted for the more mainstream strawberry/banana smoothie. Boring, I know.

Another gem that I found at the same stand was this badly-written sign advertising bubble drinks. I’m not sure what “let me crazy” is supposed to mean. Engrish translations, anyone?

10:17 a.m.
There is no entry for yesterday and here’s why:

I started taking my lupron shots on Saturday. Yesterday, I had the worst headache of my life. I’m not sure if it’s associated with the drugs or if it’s something else entirely.

I had a low-grade tension headache all day following church as we hit Ward Warehouse and Ward Centre to continue our Christmas shopping. When we got home, Hubby and I went for a short walk, hoping the light exercise might help with the circulation and help my headache. (It didn’t.) I had a small dinner, comprised of leftovers, and my headache got increasingly worse. By 7 pm, I was in bed, trying to sleep it off. At around 9:30, I woke up feeling nauseated and promptly lost my breakfast, lunch and dinner. Twice. It wasn’t pretty. When I finally drifted off to sleep, I managed to sleep through the night.

This morning, I woke up feeling a little better. Although my head was still not quite normal and my stomach is still out of whack. It’s nearly 10 am and I haven’t eaten anything yet, in fear of throwing up again. Hubby is on a shopping mission to bring me back some crackers and 7up — the age-old remedy for an upset tummy.

Update, 8:31 p.m.
The crackers and soda helped. Oh, and a big dose of doting and pampering from the Hubby probably didn’t hurt, too.

I took a sick day and called my doctor. I suppose the nausea and vomiting were alarming enough that he had me come in to see him. He checked all my vitals and decided that I hadn’t suffered a stroke or aneurysm, but had indeed experienced a severe migraine as I had suspected. (Boy, am I glad I didn’t take Hubby up on his offer to take me to the ER last night!)

Again, as soon as the doc saw me in the office today, he greets me by saying, “hey, crazy patient! What the heck are you doing now?” Yes, it’s abundantly clear that I am one of his more challenging cases in all aspects.

The doc suspects that the migraine is unrelated to the lupron injections and instructed me to continue the regimen. He did say that I could take Excedrin (sparingly and with caution) if another migraine comes my way. I went downstairs to the pharmacy and bought a bottle, which will stay with me at all times. Interestingly enough, the pharmacy technician also suffers from migraines and told me that if I don’t have Excedrin on hand, Tylenol, Aspirin and a Coke also works wonders (since that’s basically what Excedrin is: acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine).

I took the lupron shot at approximately 5:00 p.m. and I seem to be okay so far. Perhaps the doc is right, maybe the headache was unrelated. Let’s hope so. I don’t need anything else interfering with my IVF process!

Ala Moana Shopping Center
bedecked in its Christmas attire

After dropping $1400 on a car repair bill, I wasn’t in a spendy mood this evening. However, we managed to get a few gifts for my co-workers. Looks like we’ll be hitting the mall again tomorrow. We’re about 3/4 done with our Christmas shopping. How are you doing with yours?

iPod Nutcracker display at the Apple Store

Two funny things happened this week:

1. While I was filming at Haleiwa Beach park, a surfer chick came up to me and asked, “excuse me… do you speak English?” I get that ALL the time. Do I look that bobora?

2. Hubby and I went to a small, locally-owned toy store this evening. A guy behind the counter manning the register said, “hi Donna” just as I walked in. I returned the greeting, but wasn’t sure who he was. For a split second, I thought it might have been someone who knew me from my blog. (It’s happened before.) Then, I realized that he looked familiar but I couldn’t remember his name or where I knew him from. When he finally relented and gave me his name, it finally clicked. He was my high school classmate, Steve. I hate it when people recognize/remember me right off the bat and all I can do is look at them with a blank stare. How embarrassing! I’m surprised that he recognized me, since I literally gained 30 lbs. since graduation.

It all begins again! Shots, patches and pills — oh, my!

NOTE: Please pardon the mess in the background. It’s our multi-purpose computer/fitness/project room.

A video shoot was penciled in on my work calendar for today to obtain more B-roll footage for our video project. Despite yesterday’s storm that barreled through the state, we decided to take a chance and hit the road anyway, despite the drizzles and the dark clouds. We headed for the north shore, hitting variable weather, with hopeful spots of sun at times, only to be greeted by a sudden change in weather bringing light rain off-and-on. Not terrible, but not so good for the camera equipment. I would probably want to do another day of shooting, just so we can actually get some nice beach scenes where the water doesn’t look so gray. If you look closely, you can even see raindrops falling on the tourists eating shave ice.

Since it’s been so long since my last video log, I decided to create a vlog entry with some of the footage obtained during today’s short 3-hour jaunt to Haleiwa. Enjoy!