I want to apologize to all my readers for how utterly vacant I have been on the Melindaville Blog recently.  Life has been really crazy lately.  I have had a hard time keeping up with my blog for a few reasons.  First, I am teaching way too many classes again right now (I still haven’t learned how to say ‘no!’).  Also, I’ve been going through training to work online at a new university (as if I am not busy enough). 

However, most problematic recently is that I am having terrible computer problems (not good for an online instructor and blogger right?).  My computer has been having some major problems for a while now.  In fact, I have reinstalled the operating system a few times to try to figure out what software was causing the conflict but after reinstalling it twice this last week and Les installing it another time for good measure, we finally called Lenovo and came to the conclusion that there is actually something wrong with the laptop itself.  One thing I do want to mention is how impressed I was with Lenovo’s support.  They sent me a box on Monday to ship the computer back to them, I sent the computer back on Tuesday and they had it returned to me yesterday with a brand new hard drive.  That’s customer service, folks!

I’m getting ready for the Holidays!  As usual, my good friend Eddie will be here to share the Holidays with us and I am looking forward to that.  Eddie is my gay boyfriend and one of the lights of my life.  We met when I was an undergraduate student at Montana State and he was living in Bozeman working on his illustrations.  We became roommates for a while and he truly kept me laughing for the four years I was in school there.  After I moved to Pennsylvania to start graduate school, he moved to New York to attend grad school himself at the School of Visual Arts.    One of the most wonderfully serendipitous experiences I have ever had occurred with Eddie when we were having coffee after we first met.  I was talking about a friend I’d lost touch with during my years of heroin addiction and I mentioned her name.  Eddie got the strangest look on his face and said to me, “I know a Lori Ayers in New York.”  And of course, it was the same one—which confirmed to me what a really small world it is—and also that our meeting was meant to be.  He’s been one of my best buds ever since.    I am so happy to see him and spend time with him this Holiday.

I also want to give an update on my memoir—a few of you have asked me about it recently.  It is currently being edited, which is a very slow process along with my busy schedule recently.  My hope is that it will be published within this next year.  After the Holidays, Les and I will be doing quite a bit of traveling again, which we have done a lot of this fall.  I don’t always travel with Les but I like to when I can.  As hard as travel can be on me, it is harder in most ways to be away from my beloved husband—so I am looking forward to adventuring on with him in the New Year. 

Anyway, that’s a few new updates from Melindaville!  I hope your week has been less stressful than mine!

Peace,

Melinda

P.S. I don't like the sound quality of the podcast—I think I might have to get new recording equipment.  I apologize if the sound is irritating to any of you (it was to me). 

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