You know how in preschool/elementary school many classrooms motivate kids to put away their mats/hang up their coats/do their math by having a CHART of some sort with the kids’ names and GOLD STARS or some such thing for the stuff they have done? You know how some kids go positively APE SHIT over said gold start? How they will do anything and everything you tell them if you just put one more GOLD STAR by their name?
I was that kid. Oh, hell, who am I kidding? I still am that kid.
We’re doing a Wellness Challenge of sorts at work where we all got free pedometers and are tracking our steps as we walk across the country over the next seven or so weeks. There are PRIZES and a LEADER LIST and frankly it is all set up to be the GOLD STAR CHART for adults.
I am so going to be at the top of that list if it kills me.
I suspect that whatever competition/GOLD STAR LOVER gene I have that is causing me to obsess over my step counts for this challenge is the same gene that gets me all excited when I find a new time-management game on my iPhone. 
I’ve been addicted to those stupid time-management games since I first came across Diner Dash lo those many years ago. I’ve owned them ALL. Ranch Rush, Diner Dash (and many versions thereof), Cake Mania, Turbo Subs, Sally’s Salon, Sally’s Spa, Drive-Through Dash…the list goes on. There is something so incredibly satisfying about frantically completing the ridiculous task lists and following the ludicrous story lines to their completion and earning SPARKLY GOLD DIGITAL TROPHIES for doing so.
If only I could set up the rest of my life with such rewards. Anyone want to set up a chart with GOLD STARS to motivate me to sweep? Because the cat-hair tumble-weeds are really getting out of control, but I’ve got a pile of time-management games I have to get through tonight.
