The last two or so weeks have been absolutely insane. Progress reports just came out and it’s looking good so far, all that hard work pays off…trust me.

Last week I wrote a little about the Register editorial board, noting that participating in board meetings is one of the highlights of my role at the newspaper.

Congratulations to the Napa Valley Register for showing the maturity and wisdom to prefer John McCain over Barack Hussein Obama.

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Since 1987, thanks to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV), communities across our nation have been dedicating this time of year to mourn those who have died because of domestic violence, celebrate those who have survived and create connections between those who work to end violence.

Why do I dislike so many political partisans? Let me count the ways.

Three people are running for two seats on Napa City Council. They are incumbents Jim Krider and Mark van Gorder and first-time candidate Amber Martin.

Dear editor, What are the qualities that should matter most when electing a person to the highest office in the land: president of the United States of America?

Dear editor, I am amazed by the argument by the Obama camp, and even some McCain supporters, that Sarah Palin is not qualified for the Republican nomination for vice president. Sarah Palin, not only has more experience than Senator Obama, she has more experience than Joe Biden in running a government. She is a sitting governor with executive experience that all of the other candidates lack.

Dear editor, My personal beliefs aside, I wish to commend Lillian Dickson and Matt Stone for stating their opposition to the Register’s McCain endorsement through more intellectual means than most. Their comments reflected a great deal of thought and they put forth intelligent debate on the matter. There have been several others I wish to commend as well for not making this about “If the community as a whole believes (blank), then the Register’s endorsements should reflect the same.”

The real reason this story has resonance is due to the fact that Obama used the phrase "spread the wealth around.” In doing so, he portrayed a view of economics that conservatives are roundly against,  wealth redistribution to make things "fairer.”

Recently I was looking at all the comments after an article on Obama’s tax plan, and noting how over the top the Republican commenters were about Obama. I thought of writing something sarcastic, like "Obama is going to use his Marxist social engineering policies to support domestic terrorism through an oppressive tax code on teeny tiny business owners while promoting both Muslim terrorism and black liberation theology, thereby installing Bill Ayers as the Secretary of Defense yada yada yada...."

Every afternoon, starting at about 3:30, I feel like I am the one going back to school. One child needs help with an algebra problem. Another has social studies questions to answer. A high school student has a paper that needs proofing. How do you mom's find the time to help your kids with homework? How much time do your kids — and you -- spend on homework each night? Who helps your kids with their homework?

I would like to know where the best parks are in Napa, best cheap things to do with kids in Napa too!

My topic is family dinners. I could use some more ideas for quick, healthy, and inexpensive dinners.

Barack Obama chose Delaware Sen. Joe Biden as his running mate ... what do you think of the choice?

(Editor's note: The comments on this crashed about 9:30 a.m Friday, right after McCain's announcement. We were able to rebuild most but not all of the comments)