Last time I blogged, it was on the anniversary of my cousin's death.  In a week, it will be her birthday.

Mercury will be out of retrograde soon, then I can sign the lease on our new apartment.

We are moving to Long Beach.  The official move-in date is Oct. 8.  I am starting the process of packing.  I should be really good at this (by my count, I've moved approximately 30 times in my 37 years on this earth).  The hardest part, I find, is getting good (and by good, I mean free) moving boxes.

I'm listening to RUSH, going through old photographs, finishing up half-done projects I've been meaning to get to all year.  It's good.

As mentioned in my last blog, I had a hysterosalpingogram done, which showed that my tubes are clear.  However, again they saw that dense shadow in my uterus... so I had a hysterosonogram done (another terribly uncomfortable procedure) and we discovered whatever it is, it's actually hitching a ride on the outside of my uterus.  That's good, because it shouldn't interfere with getting pregnant, but I can't help but wonder what the heck it is.

Nikki is still in the process of writing her dissertation.  I was so hoping she'd be done by now.  Just a few weeks more, I pray. 

Back to work, now.

Hope all is well out there with all of YOU. 

But my uterus has an unwelcome occupant.  Hopefully it's just a fibroid.  I'm trying not to think it could be anything else.

It's just a fibroid; that's my mantra.  A small one, says the doc.  About a centimeter.  We'll know more once we do the hysterosalpingogram.

I like the doctor.  A lot.  In fact, I liked him from the second I laid eyes on him, and anyone who knows me would know why.  I mean, just look at him. 

Who wouldn't want to sit down and talk to a guy who looks like this?  He's a cross between Albert Einstein and Jerry Garcia, for fuck's sake.  He's got stories to tell.  And he's got 20+ years of baby-making under his belt.

He's got quite the obsession with the Rolling Stones.  He made me laugh during the transvaginal ultrasound:  "See that thing there in the middle?  The thing that looks like Mick Jagger's lips?  That's your uterus."

I've got a list of labwork to be done, names of sperm banks, and lots of math to figure out.  Intrauterine insemination isn't as expensive as in-vitro insemination, but it ain't cheap.  In all likelihood, I'll also take a drug called Letrozole for ovulation induction.  But that's all down the road a few months.  First I need to get through all the tests and such. 

One step at a time.

As promised, here are some pics of our trip:

Driving up, we saw windmills.  Hundreds of them... as far as the eye could see.

Entrance to the resort.

View from our room.

My lovely wife and the huge jacuzzi tub in the background.

I forgot to mention the roses.  Aren't they gorgeous?

Good times. 

Just outside our front door... the firepit and hot tub.

A rare and shameless self-portrait.

Tomorrow is Nikki's birthday and we're going out in LA with some friends.  I may not get a chance to update until Sunday, so here's to a great weekend, everyone!