Because It Was There

Inspirational song: Stepping Out (Joe Jackson)

In this installment of our long-running series, "Man, Those Are the Luckiest Kids Ever," our superstars went on an errand with mom and dad, and ended up going to a big mall full of kid attractions. There's a mall that is hanging on (somehow) down in Broomfield, that is a real throwback to a simpler time (aka my youth). It's in the classic style, with a few anchor stores that have exterior entrances, with all the rest pointing inwards to central spaces. In the area near the very large food court, there is a playground, with coin-operated "rides" and big cushioned expanses where kids can run and climb. Elsewhere in the mall, there is a train that kids and parents can ride. And our babies got to go there and hang out for no other reason than it was nearby and they would like it. This is what childhood should be all about. I absolutely love this for them.

It was nice getting photo after photo of our train enthusiasts having a blast, while I was taking periodic breaks from house cleaning. I didn't bother going anywhere today. I worked on getting ahead of the tidal wave of chores that sneak up any time I slack off for an hour or so. I even knocked out a few stupid tasks that I had been postponing for months, getting that huge dopamine hit when suddenly they were off of my to-do list.

One thing I haven't done is figure out the stupidly long password to get into my insurance portal. Why do they email and say "you have a letter," but give absolutely no hint as to what it is in the email? I've had everything from notices that offices are closed for holidays to denials of genetic testing of tumors go this way, and it is nigh impossible for me to keep up with a password that is the length of a sentence. Yes, I know password keepers exist. But I have yet to establish a single one to use between apple, android, and windows products. I wrote the last idiotic password down, in a notebook I think, and I spent an hour going through my hoard of spiral notebooks, failing to find that page. At least I found a bunch of old handwritten notes I ripped out and recycled. Is this progress? If it isn't, please do not tell me.