Hey Jakey,

Here's my "Postcard from the Editor" for this week. My readers are going to start complaining that I write about you too much. Kind of like they complained that the gal who was editor before me wrote too much about her new house that she bought. Anyway, here goes:

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It's been said that through his powers of communication, the recently departed president Ronald Reagan helped end the Cold War without a war. I say that Reagan would've finally achieved peace in the Middle East if he had been even half of the Great Little Communicator that my son is.

My boy turned five months old this week. Over these past five months, we've practically had to install a revolving door to accomodate all the relatives that have marched in and out of our home to visit the little guy.

I've known my husband for 12 years now, and had only heard stories of his father and stepmother from back east. All it took was a new baby apparently to get them on the first flight west.

My skittish in-laws, deathly afraid of becoming snowbound in the upper mountain passes, even in the heart of summer, have visited us here in Nevada a grand total of—twice. In the past five months, they have managed to visit a half dozen times. Then there are my parents. They live more than 1000 miles away, but you wouldn't know it by the way they pop in and out. You'd think they lived a couple of blocks down the street.

Jake hasn't even learned to talk yet, but he's already gathered up a family scattered across the country and plopped them down in my house like it was the United Nations. My parents finally met my husband's parents. I've gotten to know and love a set of in-laws that I hadn't even met six months ago. This baby has a set of grandparents for every day of the week. His very existence has finally cemented my place among my husband's family. I guess I had to prove that I could bear my husband an heir before my name could be included on holiday cards. I only had one baby, but my family has increased a hundred-fold.

And all he has to do is lay there and bat his big brown eyes. Of course, I'm the one who has to buy the groceries to keep all these people from expiring from hunger, and I'm the one who has to vacuum and dust, so that these people never discover that my little family actually lives in squalor and filth when they're not around. Not that any of them would notice. When baby smiles his goofy little toothless smile, everyone jumps and runs for the nearest camera.

World leaders, take note. If you want to make peace within our little global village, quit sniping at each other and make more babies.

It is in this spirit of communication and family that I invite you to once again fill out the Action Best Of ballot. Communicate with us here at the Action. Tell us who your local favorites are and why. Share your reasons why you love to live here. Let's all get to know each other a little better.

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That last part is kind of a lame segue, and I had intended it to be a longer foray into how things used to be really nasty between my parents and me, and how it's not like that anymore since you've been around, but at some point that just became too much dirty laundry to air in front of the unwashed masses that read my column.

You're being such a good little boy for Nana and grandpa while they're here. Daddy's taking you to San Jose for the Fourth of July weekend, and I've actually opted out. I'm going to stay home and watch DVDs and work and take some walks in the park. I'll miss you like crazy, but I really really really don't feel like hanging out with the in-laws this weekend. And driving 4 hours away to do it. Bleah. I dunno. I have two days to change my mind...