https://padlet.com/kraushaar_katie/bbi5jmmyplvy Post a slice of life here! en-us 2018-09-23 14:31:00 UTC 2026-02-26 11:15:41 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet.com/kraushaar_katie/bbi5jmmyplvy/wish/285584233 My brother is sending me pictures of Edinburgh. He's at the museum of famous writers. He sent me a picture of a bust of Cervantes.

I'm at the Gateway Writers Project. I'm learning how to excavate, from underneath acne and Axe body spray and extracurriculars, another Cervantes. I really think that's great.

But I'm not in Edinburgh. Maybe that's the difference between an MBA and a PhD.]]> 2018-09-25 15:16:51 UTC https://padlet.com/kraushaar_katie/bbi5jmmyplvy/wish/285584233 https://padlet.com/kraushaar_katie/bbi5jmmyplvy/wish/285584572 I have never been comfortable sharing what I write.  Not with my family, wife, students.  Just a fear of rejection, I suppose, keeps me from putting myself out there.  

Several years ago, I found out that a colleague of mine keeps a blog.  That's was insane to me.  She keeps two blogs and writes fan fiction in her spare time.  I was shocked/jealous.  I could do that.  Why don't I?  I should be practicing what I preach, but I don't.  

I still don't.

I am here today looking for that muse, who constantly feeds me dreams and refuses to let me share them.  ]]> 2018-09-25 15:17:14 UTC https://padlet.com/kraushaar_katie/bbi5jmmyplvy/wish/285584572 https://padlet.com/kraushaar_katie/bbi5jmmyplvy/wish/285585055 So, two weeks ago, I’m on my way to a meeting at EdPlus and I get a text.
I’m on 270 in traffic, so it happens like this
"Hey Siri, read me that text.” 

" You have a text from Maria that says ‘ “Do you know why the campus is closed? Cop cars blocking the parking lot.” 

I pull off at the exit and into the Drury Inn parking lot and start texting people.  

The only text that comes through is “They’ve evacuated the kids. Lindsay says she’s OK.”

I start driving back to Arnold and keep asking Siri to read the texts to me. She stays very calm.

]]> 2018-09-25 15:17:48 UTC https://padlet.com/kraushaar_katie/bbi5jmmyplvy/wish/285585055 https://padlet.com/kraushaar_katie/bbi5jmmyplvy/wish/285585078 2018-09-25 15:17:49 UTC https://padlet.com/kraushaar_katie/bbi5jmmyplvy/wish/285585078 https://padlet.com/kraushaar_katie/bbi5jmmyplvy/wish/285585180 She's 10 now, and involved in many activities during and after school. Yesterday, after Girls on the Run, I mentioned that she would need to shower tonight before dinner because of our schedule. She replied, "But I just showered yesterday!"  

"Yes, you did, and now you are stinky again."

"I'm not stinky," she countered, "I'm expressing."

I'm laughing and imagining cartoon lines wafting up from her body. "What?" she asked. Worried she might take offense,  because that's the norm lately, I hesitate, but then opt for the truth because I just can't think of anything else to say. 

I've never heard her laugh so loudly. It was a rare moment without eye rolling. And yes, she still tried to avoid the shower later. ]]> 2018-09-25 15:17:58 UTC https://padlet.com/kraushaar_katie/bbi5jmmyplvy/wish/285585180 https://padlet.com/kraushaar_katie/bbi5jmmyplvy/wish/285585536 I know it's going to be awful, which is why I told my husband to do it. If you've ever owned a cat, you'll relate to the struggle that is convincing a 10-pound, 12-year-old, pretty grumpy gray cat to go into a 14-inch carrier. And not only that...but to visit the worst place in the world (at least, in her mind): THE VET. 
Goose is not a flexible cat. She hates new people, new food and new situations, so it only makes sense that today's trip is her version of cat hell. When I left this morning, I petted her soft fur and looked at her as she lounged like a beached whale, one without a single care in the world. "Enjoy it while you can," I murmured as I slipped out of the room. As I ]]> 2018-09-25 15:18:25 UTC https://padlet.com/kraushaar_katie/bbi5jmmyplvy/wish/285585536