Naysia and I sat in a booth placed near the center of Cheesecake Factory at Northstar Mall. Waiting. Anxiously. For a phone call or text message. Our flirtatious server checked in frequently--and we continually reminded him we were waiting for one more person to join us.
The phone pinged! The text we were waiting for finally came through. It read, "I'm here". I jumped up and headed to the hostess station. I almost didn't recognize her with straight hair. Our eyes met and we were on the verge of pushing the family separating us out of the way.
The height difference should have made the embrace awkward. But it wasn't. I led her to the booth where Naysia sat and she and Naysia hugged as well. We were SO happy to see Nerissa.
Our server returned several times, certainly disappointed-perhaps frustrated-that with each return trip we had not even begun to look at our menus. We were busy talking about our move, the current Fijal Family happenings, our GTTN family and the city of San Antonio. Nerissa shared that Jacob was sad because he couldn't join her. Having the heart for others that we do, we added salt to the wound by sending him pictures of our smiling faces and shared our pretend plans to see the Naked Magician show.
We shared with Nerissa our numerous experiences with local wildlife. Naysia was particularly eager to tell the story about the late night when a raccoon was trying to climb through her bedroom window. As she encountered it police cars went zooming by, further enhancing the situation.
The portions were hefty and we all had leftovers to take home. Considering Nerissa had a long day of travel and we had to be up early the next day we called it a night relatively early. We made tentative plans for Nerissa to come to our place the next day and maybe even hit the Riverwalk since she hadn't been there in years. There was a chance we wouldn't see her again as she had an engagement to attend in the evening.
Grins from ear to ear, cameras flashed, and hugs exchanged as we wished her a good night.
Wednesday, January 25, 2017
We hadn't communicated throughout the day, so I wasn't certain about what we were going to do for the night, if anything. Naysia and I cleaned house just in case. I was able to crank out a few cupcakes for work the next day while we waited. About 630pm Nerissa called to say she was on her way! Eek! We were all hungry and agreed to meet at Chris Madrid's.
She made it there before we did. This was the first time we'd been there in the evening and it was packed! Parking was a challenge--Naysia got frustrated with my grandma style of driving around the parking lot and eventually got out of the car and met Nerissa in the long line. By the time I made it in they were close to the register. We agreed to split one meal....yes, the portions are that big!
I love the vibe of this local restaurant. The food is good, fun yet relaxing atmosphere. Seemingly geared towards supporting schools in the city and I can almost envision a scene from 'High School Musical' taking place here. We have always sat inside--but not this night. We sat outside in the cold, with our cold drinks, waiting for our order number to come up. The vision and insight of their young(er) brains landed us a table just inside the entrance.
We prayed over our family sized fries and Porky's Delight Hamburger, complete with bacon slices,
melted cheddar cheese, mayo, lettuce, tomatoes, onions & pickles. While eating we noticed all the writing that was on the table. Nerissa, an architect, always prepared pulled out her pencil pouch. I started to leave my signature "Tx2" when a Chris Madrid's employee began to head our way. I nervously put the marker down and waited for a scolding. Only to realize he was just coming to bus the table :)
Naysia had an equally exciting moment when a Mariachi band member came over. As he played his guitar his belly covered with a tightly buttoned white shirt, was smack dab in the center of Naysia's face. Nerissa and I tried hard to keep the focus on his musical abilities, but Naysia's reaction was priceless.
Although we had another early morning in front of us, it was impossible to think the night was going to end after dinner. We decided to go downtown. We did our favorite Riverwalk Boat Tour. While waiting for it to begin we were all on Snapchat. And wouldn't you know it......one of the filters was titled 'Racoon City'! We got the giggles as Naysia's disgust showed on her face. It was the last tour of the night, and one of the longest, most informative ones we've been on. Afterwards we strolled over for a lovely night view of The Alamo.
She drove us back to our car. On a quiet street corner downtown, near El Mercado we hugged our hearts out. Good-byes are so hard. Thanks for blessing us with your time, Nerissa.
And then got lost on the way home.
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