California Dreaming: Cheers to Dr. Kraus!

Just last week you all read a blog from Dr. Emily Kraus. Our next isn’t due until next week, what gives? I won’t bury the lead; Dr. Kraus has moved on from the PIO and is bugging out. Trust me bugging out is a good thing. She is off to California with the UC Extension in Fresno. We already miss her but are pleased that she is California Dreaming and say Cheers to Dr. Kraus!

Personal

It seems just yesterday that Dr. Kraus was walking in for her first day with us. We stood ready with party poppers, it did not go well. One of them never went off at all and the other popped but no confetti came out…typical. Emily laughed it off and we immediately knew we were going to have some fun together. Those that don’t know Emily and I share an Indiana connection, as we both served our time in the frozen sunless winters of the Midwest and survived, and we had many stories to share. One of my favorite gifts from the land of the Hoosiers is the new term I use for all koozies, there are forever known as “coldy holdies” to me. Thank you Krausss.

First day, poppers failed, but at least the sign worked.

It wasn’t just me that Emily pulled into the circle of trust, my family will dearly miss her as well. Who else could help my daughter know the biology and lifecycle of a nannansasian bug (an assassin bug for the uninitiated). We will all miss the stellar Halloween decorations and ode to Krampus each Christmas. I will particularly miss the moments when chaos struck or work was brutal, Emily would hit the goat from the office next door and all was right with the world. Our combined dedication to theming at events is also legendary. Early on in her time with the office she got pulled into the workplace shenanigans and contributed, dare I say won, our first canned oddity fest. Yeah, it was weird and the number of strange things you can put in a can is shocking. We stored all those cans in her office, welcome to work I suppose. She rolled with it like a champ.

A bug that moved when you walked by, kid approved.

Work Life

At work Emily brought the same passion and creativity that made for such a great personal friendship. As much as I had never heard of a “coldy holdy” but immediately knew it was the right thing, many times I had a new perspective on pesticide safety. In particular her blog and our discussions on the unique challenge of PPE for females was eye opening. Emily’s handle on the Spanish language and passion for moving that forward even faster helped our office move in ways we had not before. Emily and I were able to motivate and push each other in a healthy way…the competition was not between each other, but a striving to make things better.

Reflecting on Emily’s time here I feel confident that she made our office better and I sure hope her time here made her better. To quote Maya Angelou:

“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better!”

I know I have been inspired and will do better. I also know Emily is going to THRIVE in her new position. We will miss her for sure but know that she is off on a real adventure enjoying the sun while she is California Dreaming…Cheer to Dr. Kraus.

May the road rise to meet you, may the wind be always at your back….