It's not often I mark a day off on my calendar - except for work, that is, and that only so Howard can keep track of me and meet me at the sky train station on the right day and the right time - but Colonel Chris Hadfield's visit to Black Bond Books in Surrey rated a bright red reminder on November 15.
I had to go in the morning and get a ticket so I'd have a place in line - number 96? That's actually a pretty good number, as they were expecting 800, to match the number of books they sold.
That meant I would be in the first line, starting at 7 pm. First station completed - next came lunch. I'm not overly impressed with the food court at Surrey Central Mall, as I don't think there is any place to get a nice bowl of soup there. However, I found
Charley's Grilled Subs and decided to try them out.
I ordered a Philly Cheese steak - their picture sure looked yummy -
However, that picture and a picture o the actual sandwich would never have worked in a kid's Memory Game. Mine came spread apart like a $2 ... well, we won't go there. I was pretty sure they had forgotten the cheese, but did find a small amount near the last bite. It was an okay sandwich ... the fries were home cut, which was nice, and their lemonade was fine.
Then came a visit to Target, which has finally opened in Surrey Central Mall. I didn't buy anything - some prices seemed good, some a bit high, like every other department store in the world, I suppose. But it was all brand new and lots of staff were offering help, which we didn't really need as we weren't looking for anything in particular. I imagine by the time we go there for some serious shopping, they'll all be jaded and hidden away in some obscure department.
Weather wise, it wasn't a very nice day at all, rainy and windy, so walking around outdoors to other stores wasn't a popular idea and we just bussed home. Of course that meant I had to get dinner ... but that's okay.
At 6 o'clock, we (meaning Nikkie) drove back to the mall so we could stand in a line amongst a thousand noisy people - sort of like cafeteria duty in an elementary school lunchroom.
So ... what do two kids do while they have to wait a looooong time to meet someone they don't know? I had a notebook in my bag ... but only one pen, so that didn't really work well.
A trip to Target ate up some time, but when they come back they still had a ton of energy. Luckily enough, I had two cameras in my bag .... so that kept them entertained for a little while.
See?
I'm not sure who took what, but ..... if we ever forget what life from a kid's viewpoint looks like ...
... it's even worse than being 5' 2 3/4" ....
... and probably makes scary things look even scarier.
However, there's a ton of cuteness in a camera too -
And finally, the 4 of us gained entrance to the store, where Colonel Hadfield was welcoming the readers of his book ... everyone got a handshake, and he gave Chris some advice - When you're shaking hands with someone, always look them in the eye! - that I'm sure Chris will always remember. It's not every day he meets an astronaut.
I imagine the poor man must have had a sore wrist before he was done signing all those books ... in all this gravity ....
But, he made my day ... Thank you, Commander Hadfield, for inspiring us all to reach for the stars, wherever these stars may be. I think your book should be required reading in all schools.
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