The few days since terrible Thursday when Niko was found have been a bit better. I still feel on the verge of tears at most times, but for the most part they don’t actually materialize. I’ve been trying to keep myself busy, or at least productive. Thursday night I went to the Baylor vs. Wake Forest football game that was pretty sad (at least from a Baylor perspective)… and Friday I did some work and meetings to prep for starting my new job on Tuesday. Since then I’ve hit some garage sales, and spent some time with some soon to be co-workers. I’ve got a huge list of questions I have to ask this week now that I’ve been talking more with folks here. As always, institutional transition can be hard, and I’m anticipating a steep learning curve in learning what are the “important” things at Baylor vs. what was seen as “important” at Santa Clara. Shall be interesting.

This morning I visited a church I’d heard people talk about called Calvary Baptist Church. Would you believe I’ve never actually seen a church use a bathtub in the sanctuary for baptism (I think they actually call it a baptismal). I’ve certainly seen adult/believer’s baptism before, but it’s always been either still a sprinkling or an outdoor ceremony thing. I felt a bit uncomfortable with the whole thing, but I can’t quite pinpoint why. They was also no communion… I can’t remember the last time I went to church where there was no communion.

And… people here are so very friendly. It’s almost strange to experience.

Clementine is really lonely. I think she doesn’t get enough stimulation all day and so she keeps me at night and early in the morning pushing her nose into my face and stepping on my hair. Lovely. The cats never kept me up at all when we were living in Ohio, even though they always slept on my bed. I’m thinking of looking for another cat so she’s not alone, but it feels wrong somehow.

Maybe what I really need is a 5 year old to entertain her all day.

Even through all of this, thankfully I still feel a lot of peace that this is where I’m supposed to be right now.