Quick and to the Pointless

I have to admit, I'm getting a little stir crazy. At least when it comes to running. I've had to do my last three runs on the treadmill, which just plain suck-diddly-ucks. With all the snow and ice we've gotten, there isn't much room on the road for runners. I don't trust drivers when the conditions are perfect, so now I definitely have my reservations. But it's been raining all evening, so some of that ice is melting away. Of course, it'll probably all freeze overnight. We'll see if I can run outside tomorrow.

I just mapped out my training schedule for the NJ Marathon. I do a 16-week program and I start in about three weeks. Hopefully I won't end up doing most of it on the treadmill.

I'm not overly stressed about Christmas shopping. Deb took care of all the kids' stuff and I've already bought a few things for her. I have to get some stuff for my brother and his family, as well as some stocking stuffers for Deb, but I know what I'm getting, so that makes it a lot easier.

The only stress right now is at work, because I'm taking all of next week off, so I need to get a lot done before then. I'm editing a couple of books that are in different stages of production, so I'll probably have to do some work at home next week. But at least I'll be home.

Candy cane crawl:

• The writers' strike saga continues, with the latest news being that several late-night talk shows are returning to the air, including Jimmy Kimmel, Conan O'Brien and Jay Leno. Of course, they're doing so without their writing staffs, arguing that they need to come back to support the non-writing employees who are currently out of work. Dave Letterman is negotiating a deal to return with his writers, as is Jon Stewart for The Daily Show. Meanwhile, the upcoming Golden Globes and Academy Awards telecasts may have to air without writers, and now there's talk that the actors may boycott the shows. Strange days indeed.
• New York Rangers superpest Sean Avery got some pub today for his role as a 50s-era goon who gets his head handed to him by Rocket Richard in a Canadian film about the Hall of Famer. The movie actually came out in Canada two years ago, but is getting a DVD release in the U.S. now.