I met Patty Early at Fellowship Square several years ago. My circle of close friends is quite small and I am thankful to have her as an integral part of it.She is hardworking, loyal, thoughtful, hilarious, generous and if a fight was necessary she would definitely have my back!
We spent every workday together and most times hung out at least once during the weekend. I have to be honest, it was quite difficult leaving Tucson knowing I would miss her terribly. Although we've communicated frequently since my move, there is nothing like being together. So, bless the Lord! All plans came to be and she was able to visit San Antonio for my birthday.
Thursday, January 26, 2017
The workday zoomed by with joy and anticipation of Patty's arrival. Her flight was a few minutes early. Underestimating rush hour traffic, we were a few minutes later than hoped for to pick her up. Smiles appeared as we saw her on the curb patiently waiting for us. Naysia helped load her things in the car and we headed home.
Her carry on was jam packed with real tortillas and I got busy cooking chicken quesadillas and guacamole. We all settled into the living room to break bread and conversate. Naysia eventually made her way to her room and Patty and I went out for a bit. We took a short cruise around the neighborhood, drove by my job, and returned a purchase to Ross.
She was tired from the day's travel. I was tired from my work day and visit prep. We started saying goodnight about 10. And then we talked more. Giggled tons. Naysia joined in with the story telling. Numerous times I'd say, "okay, we'll go now" and we'd keep on. Finally about 1130 Naysia and I headed to bed.
Friday, January 27, 2017
The birthday morning was off to a great start! I tried to quietly answer the phone as the men in my life (surprisingly) made early morning calls. I was blessed to hear from them!! Eventually Patty surfaced from the bedroom. Naysia is not a breakfast fan so Patty and I dined without her.http://www.twinsistersbakeryandcafe.com/
Twin Sisters Bakery and Cafe had a booth available along the window. Patty prayed a lovely prayer, not only over the food but over my life. The coffee was smooth and hot. Their bacon is my favorite.
Our afternoon didn't allow for too much activity as we had plans to meet the Adante fam at 5pm for Happy Hour.
*********see the next blog for details********
The hour was indeed a happy one! After taking Ann and Naysia home we hit the streets again. Judith had given such a great review of Club Industry and I really wanted to go there. Located frighteningly close to a funeral home, the mid sized club's population was sparse--but the present ages appeared quite close to my own and it was familiar 80s music. There was one gentleman on the dance floor and within minutes we had created a story about his life. Although we laughed, I eventually shared that I was slightly envious of him. He could care less about how he looked, did not matter to him that he missed several beats and he was alone. He was happy and enjoying his life in that moment. #goals. Just as we made ourselves comfortable, I could feel someone standing behind us. I turned around and this is what happened...
Him: Edison High School, class of 1990.Me (confused): Sunnyside High School, class of 1994
Him: I don't know where that is.
Me: I'm not from here.
Him (counting his fingers): Class of 1994, so that makes you 33 yrs old
Me (shrugging shoulders): ummm sure
This guy, Mario, talked. Alot. His 17 year old daughter dropped him off. He loved 80s music and we knew that because about every seven minutes he'd throw both hands in the air and yell out "I LOVE THE 80s!!!!" He enjoyed break dancing, but wouldn't. He was down with selfie photo bombs. He was disappointed that he hadn't seen anyone from his high school. He enjoyed the way Patty's hair smelled and thought the hour spent with us was a waste of his time when I told him we were leaving for the night without him.
We opted for a trip through the McDonald's drive thru for some fries. Stayed up later than planned, again. Excited for Saturday we forced ourselves to retire.
Saturday, January 28, 2017
Bags packed✔ Rental car picked up✔ Car loaded✔ McDonalds brekkie✔ Starbucks caffeine✔
Blasted thru the 281, zoomed down the I 37 and arrived to one of my favorite places. The beach.
Port Aransas aka Port A was a relatively last minute decision. We had plans on sitting in beach chairs, blaring jams via the bluetooth speaker, perhaps reading a book while wearing trendy sunglasses and relishing in the ocean air. Instead we were met with cloudy skies and cold wind.
Disappointed, we took the beach chairs back to the car and traded our towels for blankets. Although cold we all walked along the shore. Sometimes as a group, once in a while one of us would drift off. We, like little ones, were entertained by dead fish on the sand and unique sea shells. We kept hoping the sun would break thru but it didn't happen. Refusing to give up on a day at the beach, we migrated to the pier.
The Horace Caldwell Pier is probably a fisherman's heaven. For us, it served as a dance floor, cat walk and a place to check out the surfers. There was a family on the beach playing some Reggaeton and we couldn't help but dance. Much like the gentleman from the night prior, we took turns standing in front of the painted 'Keepers' signage and we took turns dancing!! We posed along the fence, talked to strangers, felt the power of the wind. And the sun even came out ever so briefly to warm us.
It became colder as the evening drew close. We were hungry and ready to get in some fresh seafood. We took a scenic detour to the hotel. Considering the off season, there wasn't much traffic. We stopped at the touristy beach store simply to go into the belly of the shark beast. Ending up at the marina, we were sandwiched between two cars staring out into the bay, we soon realized the fascination. There were several dolphins nearby!! Although we never captured clear pictures of them, we were amazed by the beauty so close to us. We stayed there long enough to see the sunset and then freshened up for dinner. 
Nosiness lead to a rather uncomfortable encounter. Naysia mentioned the kid in the booth behind us looked like someone we know. In my secretive attempts to see him, his grandma came to our booth to ask if everything was okay. She thought perhaps he was moving around too much and she had wanted to apologize on his behalf. oops!!
This night's faux early bed time was hijacked by a brief dance party and Snapchat filters. We laughed until we cried and then enjoyed a satisfying night's sleep.
Sunday, January 28, 2017
Coffee in hand, phone and camera charged, blanked wrapped around...we were on an early morning mission to catch the sunrise over the ocean. We made it to the beach with minutes to spare. With expediency, we jumped out of the car and went our separate ways. The pending sunrise commanded our silence and attention. As I stood in position each photo captured a different shade of each color. The pinks became brighter. The oranges became bolder. And within minutes the sun began to ascend over the horizon. Oh Joy!! There is no doubt that every time I am blessed to stand on sandy shores I am overcome with gratefulness and praise for the beauty He created. I am thankful for the ability to have senses to hear the waves, feel the sand, see the sun, smell the water and even at times taste the salt in the air. Imperfect me, He knows the desires of my heart and gives me such majestic gifts.
Patty
and I eventually reconnected. We captured a few selfies and talked
tentative to do list for the day. With plans on attending Pearl
Street's 12:30 service we didn't have much wiggle room. We'd have to be
on the road by 930am. We hung out a
few more minutes watching the birds and admiring the decorated posts.
We met our departure time of 930am by the skin of our teeth. Being the risk takers we are, decided to stop at the beach just one more time. Corpus Christi's North Beach wasn't too terribly far away so we did it! In about 8 minutes we ran thru the sand once more, failed at awesome Boomerang beach jumps, took pictures of USS Lexington. We had a major scare on the freeway. About halfway back to San Antonio there was a car driving fast in our lane--towards us!!! Bless the Lord we were able to get over without trouble. Adrenaline pumping and with thankful hearts we made it to Pearl Street at 12:26pm.
Service
was great. It was one of my favorites, baptismal service. Naysia's
girl Azari was baptized. I was blessed by my growth group
fam *********see the next blog for details******** We cruised thru the Pearl for a short while. Caught the tail end of the farmers market and delighted in dessert at Bakery Lorraine.
Our final stop for the day was the Riverwalk. We did the Alamo--and for the first time went inside. I was scolded for taking pictures. We were amazed (again) by the massive tree in the courtyard. Dinner was planned but the location was undecided. Having heard all sorts of laughter coming from the Irish pub in the past I thought we'd get a kick out of it. A piano man was present belting out some well known hits. What was missing was service. The young lady who took our drink order nearly refused to serve us because of Naysia's age. I insisted on being her mother, she complimented me, brought our drinks and never returned. After about 10 minutes we left cash on the table and had dinner elsewhere. Lastly, we did the classic Boat Tour. It was a fun group of people on board and as always there was new information gathered. Naysia filled Patty in on fun facts that had been missed. Night was drawing near and with departures and early morning clock ins due we headed home.
The last night together, with anyone, is always an emotional one. I knew I'd see her again (and I did in a month's time) but nonetheless goodbyes are difficult. We individually prepared for the following day, she tried to switch up the existing sleeping arrangement, and then we had some more Snapchat laughs.
Monday, January 30, 2017
Patty was kind enough to go to the airport early so I could avoid an adjustment in my work schedule. With 7am clock in required our time in the morning was short. We prayed on the way to the airport. The drop off was joyful yet somber.
This birthday is one I won't soon forget. My heart was full as I spent the weekend with my daughter and one of my besties. Thank you Patty for the financial and time sacrifices you made to be here for #41. I hope we can do it again next year.
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