ROW80: Playing Catch-Up with Silent John

Hi everyone,

I'm late for my scheduled check-in--of course it was yesterday--but I wanted to keep you abreast of my progress.

31 of 78 cards have been written thus far. I definitely have had a few challenges thrown my way, but my biggest stumbling block has been my bad attitude. "Silent John" is his name, and when I start not talking, then I'm usually stressed out or have taken on way too much. It's hard for me to pinpoint when he will run onto the stage of my life.

He made an appearance this past weekend, much to my chagrin, but I managed to stuff him back into the closet with some serious workouts and a desire to just see him gone. Luckily he doesn't come around much, but when he does people notice. My usually ebullient personality goes from 60 to 0 in about two minutes, and when people notice it usually makes the problem worse. He's been a virtual stranger and coming back less and less in the past few years--I used to be able to count on him for 2-3 extended stays a month--but I had to wrestle with him again.

You'll be thrilled to know that I won this round, thanks to an understanding, tolerant spouse and a fantastic anniversary gift of Xbox headphones. I've already become a more efficient killing machine on Call of Duty: Black Ops, and no one around me has to hear the carnage. It's the gift that keeps on giving.

With Silent John now beaten into submission, I was able to get back into the writing again and completed three cards earlier tonight. ROW80 people know that Friday marks the halfway point in the contest, and I really need to get cracking. Another 8 cards in four days? ABSOLUTELY POSSIBLE.