So there is no definitive end to the work stoppage that has strangled the 2011 offseason. And as frustrating as that is for me, and for you, imagine what it is like for members of the football front offices and the coaching staffs around the league.

They want to get things started. They've been waiting for months to put their plans into action and to get the players ready for training camp. As it stands now, there is optimism that a new labor deal will be in place by mid July and that there is going to be a full training camp, preseason and regular season.

Optimism. Hope.

And more waiting.

So if you are Andy Reid right now, are you enjoying your vacation? Aren't the wheels spinning a million miles per hour ready to get the season started? Howie Roseman, same thing. All of the new coaches on this staff ... they only have ideas of what the players they are going to work with are all about.

Patience is tested once again. And the idea that the teams that have the best front offices and coaches who can do a lot in a short period of time will thrive is enforced once again. Those teams not prepared for the quick-hit experience are going to lose ground in the fast-moving NFL.

Hey, what can you do? I say you should plan for training camp at Lehigh University in those final days of July through the first couple of weeks of August. I say you should prepare for the fast and the furious once business is open in the NFL.

In the meantime, remain encouraged. There are talks scheduled between the Owners and the players. Both sides want a deal to get done, and sooner rather than later. It's gonna happen.

But for me, at this moment, I'm out of words. I've been writing about nothing for 100 days -- with the exception of draft weekend -- and I'm spent. It's time for the NFL to make a deal with the players so we can all look ahead to a great, great, great 2011 season.

I anticipate a whirlwind of a free-agency period and a trade or two perhaps mixed in. I expect the Eagles to be active. This has been the message for months.

And, in agonizing fashion, we're getting there. Labor peace is coming. And when a deal is done, we won't have to worry about this for another decade.

Now I'm getting away from the keyboard. I'm all twitchy and bitchy and caught in that purgatory between vacation time and ready for action.

It is time for a deep breath. Hopefully I will get one large gulp of relaxing air and then I will have the chance to jump in with both feet very, very soon, not to come up for another breath until the Eagles have won the Lombardi Trophy and we are dazed from the celebration.

That's all I have right now, gang. Dreams. Hopes. A vision of greatness ahead.