Travelling through time and space

Yesterday I went to London to do some shopping and then Spiderman met me at the British Library so we could go to a lecture on time travel. http://www.bl.uk/whatson/exhibitions/outof/events/event121910.html  It was a thoroughly entertaining venture for a mere £7.50 each. My favourite quote of the evening was "We are all time travelers moving at the rate of 24 hours a day."

Anyone who knows me knows that I am crap at directions. I can get lost going home if I try to go another route. FACT. Read here if you can't recall my extreme phobia of navigation: http://spidergrrlvstheworld.blogspot.com/2011/03/iron-filings-in-my-nose.html

However, I have managed to turn a corner recently through intense prayer and have recently managed to go to London on my own--not once but twice-- and actually not get lost. Amazing. As some of you know I have joined a folk dancing class and needed some beautiful, well fitting strappy shoes that were not made from leather. Tricky that one. So I figured go into Covent Garden as I know how to get there and do some shopping then meet up with Spiderman for the lecture. And let me tell you--I was very blessed indeed. I believe a person should count their blessings and so here they are:

  1. There was someone working the window at the train station so I didn't have to navigate the touch screen computer to buy my ticket. I much prefer buying from a person.
2. I remembered my q-pod (much lower tech version of i-pod) and so i had tunes on the way.
3. It was spitting with rain when I arrived but I had remembered my rain gear unlike our anniversary.
4. It stopped raining shortly after I arrived.
5. When I got out of the tube staion I did not even have to use the map Spiderman had given me as there was a big sign saying "Neal street this way."
6. The walk to the shop was as short and direct and easy-peasy as I recalled.
7. The man who worked there was useless and couldn't be fagged to do anything but the woman understanding my incredibly tiny feet issues (I wear a size 3/4 here--size 5/6US) went to downstairs to the store room and brought me up some size 3 black narrow strappy crocs in the Shyana style http://www.crocs.eu/crocs-shayna/11212,en_ES,pd.html?cid=206&cgid=women-footwear which were perfect and will be breathable and comfortable and will look much like everyone else's dancing shoes.
8. It didn't take long at all so I had time to potter around Covent Garden market.
9. I passed an AMT coffee-which are really hard to come by. They make this delicious Chai Steamer that is chai tea and hot soya milk with cinnamon on top. Perfect for a chilly (on and off again) rainy day.
10. I had a really interesting chat with a woman who carves animals in solid acrylic cuboids. I bought a lovely hand carved spider in a web as a late anniversary gift for Spiderman. We had a long interesting talk about teaching in an inner city school--she saw my backpack had a school logo and her son is trying to teach in Hackney but is so discouraged that he will go back to university next year.
12. I went into Crabtree and Evelyn pretending to browse but really as a cunning ploy to use a sample of their luscious rosewater hand cream that retails for £16. Shhh, don't tell anyone.
13. I went to LUSH for a similar reason to try out samples so I can figure out how to copycat them at home and I struck up a conversation with a girl who worked there about being vegan. I was excited to see the vegan society logo on some of their stuff so we got to chatting and she is a vegetarian wanting to go vegan. I wrote down a whole bunch of stuff for her--products to try (nutritional yeast that you can make your own cheese sauce/parmesan with) and some websites and blogs to look at. It was great to be so helpful. She gave me tonnes of samples.
14. I passed a Big Issue seller (magazine sold by homeless people who have to buy the mag and then sell for a profit--it is a way to get out of being homeless and the Big Issue foundation offers help with lots of stuff) and he seemed so down on his luck so I stopped to buy and mag and chat. Our friend Shaun who used to sell in our town said that the greyer the sky the less people buy. He agreed and said when it rains hardly anyone buys. We had a nice chat and I was glad I had some change to buy the mag.
15. I stopped off at M&S (oooh aren't we posh) and picked up some healthy salad bowls of grains and veg and goodness to eat and they had wasabi peas which was a treat.
16. I met Spiderman at the British library and when we were waiting in the lobby before the lecture a nice lady name Penelope struck up a conversation. She's Canadian but her hubby's a Brit. We had a really interesting visit about the Sci-Fi exhibit and Sci-Fi books we like. I'm glad that we seem friendly and approachable.
17. The lecture was stellar and really made us think. I was so happy to be here in England, so close to London, with my beloved Spiderman by my side.
18. Not actually about yesterday but something that happened earlier in the week that I am thankful for: The haberdashery stall in the market where I buy my thread and ribbon and buttons etc did me a nice turn. I was there buying some red yarn and the woman offered me some free iron on interfacing because she had accidently cut a hole in it and it was unsellable. I was really touched and went home and wrote a thank you note and she almost cried. Which was silly really--but I'm glad she felt touched as well.

It was a great day and I had a meaningful conversation with 4 strangers. I was very blessed by them and I hope I blessed them as well.