Well-meaning folks who aren't currently volunteering with our campaign are apt to say to me, in person or emails, "Hope you're enjoying the summer with your family!"

I'm enjoying the summer, but I have to make sure to put "Eat dinner at home" on my calendar once a week, as otherwise I hardly see my children and spouse. I've been working hard since the primary on May 20, leaving not even enough time to blog much. People sometimes ask why I don't cut back a little, when we won such a convincing victory to take a big lead into the runoff. I give three main answers. I'm a nurse, and nurses work hard. I'm used to putting in 110% effort at every task, every day - it's simply who I am and what I do. Plus, Portlanders are funding this race with Public Campaign Financing. Both now and when I'm elected, I will make sure taxpayers' money is used wisely, and that includes working as hard as humanly possible myself, to win the election and do a good job once in office. And I'm enjoying being in neighborhoods all over Portland, greeting old friends and making new ones, building connections so more and more Portlanders will know they have a friend in City Hall if/when I'm elected. I plan to be active in visiting neighborhood events next summer, too.

We're having fun. Here are some photographs by volunteer Colin Maloney, of the team marching in the GOOD in the NeighborHOOD parade. The parade starts by the Urban League headquarters at N Williams and Russell, runs up Martin Luther King Junior Boulevard, and ends at the King School and Neighborhood Center park on NE 6th off Alberta. The temperatures were fine when we started, beginning to get toasty by the end of the march. Many thanks to all our supporters both marching and watching the parade.

Last weekend, supporters and/or I participated in the TriMet Street Fair in Old Town, the Cathedral Park Jazz Festival, the OregonDemoForum (a gathering of statewide Democratic leaders) in Welches, the East Precinct Open House, and a fundraiser for the Portland Women's Crisis Line. Oh, and I worked Saturday and Sunday evenings on the inpatient psychiatry unit at OHSU.

Coming up on Saturday 7/26 and Sunday 7/27, I'm scheduled for events in SE, North, NE, and SW, plus knocking on doors in the Mount Tabor and Rose City Park neighborhoods. There are many happenings during the week, too, especially in the evenings. Please join me at a community gathering in your part of town, or call the office and schedule a convenient time to introduce me to your neighbors. Call 503-235-2295 to volunteer.