Well, we're getting down to crunch time here. This will probably be my last entry before the trip. We haven't really done any packing yet, so we'll be busy for the next few days, but I've gotten all the transportation details worked out and a hotel and car reserved in Shannon for when we get there. We're going to be driving to St. Louis, taking the train to Chicago, taking the El to the airport, and taking a plane to Shannon where we will be picking up our rental car and driving an hour or so to our hotel. Whew! I've gotten us reservations at a really neat hotel, but I'm not going to say anything more about it because I'm keeping it a surprise from Christian.

I really hope that he is going to relax when we get there. Right now he is so stressed out and worried about anything and everything that he doesn't even want to go. It's so amazing to me that I sometimes end up being the calmer one in this relationship, usually I think of myself as the big worrier.

Of course he's also upset about some other things. We went in last week and had a semen analysis and his motility was a little low. I did some research and found out that this could be due to low testosterone, and also noticed that he had just about all of the other symptoms of low testosterone. One of the symptoms listed is depression, something he's been struggling with for years and years. He had problems with other hormones when he was young, he's had all these symptoms for years, and he's very upset that no one has ever thought to at least test for this before. If this is the cause of some of his problems, a simple test could have saved him a lot of anguish over the years. We finally got someone to give him a lab order for a blood test, and we're anxiously awaiting the results.

I also went ahead and started the Clomid this week. I've had the expected symptoms; nausea, dizziness, headaches, "mood changes," etc. Poor Christian, as if he didn't have enough to deal with. Grin

We drove an hour to try out the church that one of Christian's co-workers goes to this last Sunday. It was supposed to be a very good one that has exactly what we are looking for. (What we're looking for is sermons that are less topical and more inductive bible study.) We thought it was OK, but then Christian's friend told us that it was one of the most boring sermons that they had had there for a long time, so maybe we'll be going back. Of course, the pastor had an Australian accent and since it was Mother's Day, kept saying "Mum" a lot, so it wasn't all bad. Accents are fun. I'm sure we'll be hearing lots of them in the next month.

Christian is building a swing out in the front yard. He's finished the frame, put trellis up on it, and then just this week he built some flower boxes at the ends. We planted morning glories in them and they are already up and going strong. They grow fast, so by the time we get back they should be all over the place. It'll be nice to come back to.

See ya in a month or so!