How to take out a mailbox in 2 seconds flat, using only a Goldendoodle ---by Amanda Cassell

The Innocent Party
The Guilty Party (aka Mailbox Murderer) ---Wanted Dead or Alive



Oh the adventures Ollie dog, Matt, and I have shared.............and to think--we are actually getting yet ANOTHER doodle, you ask yourself??!!! We have truly lost our mind ;) Well, crazy loves company,or so they say........we will have one house full of CRAZY come mid-December in the Cassell household----with an added bonus of a chocolate doodle puppy ;) I just feel so sad for Ollie dog when I come home at lunch and he is looking all lonely and pitiful:( He needs a friend!!! Especially since he is a spoiled little booger already. If we get him a friend to stay entertained with, once we have children, he shouldn't feel so neglected and both of the dogs will have a chance to mellow out a little more by the time the kids arrive. Ollie has actually become quite mellow in the last couple months. We have a hard time getting him up in the morning, and when I come home, he is sprawled out on the couch sleeping...he fell asleep with his body across the couch and his head on my shoulder at 6 pm the other night....out snoring in 5 seconds once his head hit my shoulder! ha ;)

Ok, on to the adventure from yesterday evening---Matt had to go to journal club at the hospital, so I decided I would take Ollie for a little run. I was only going to take him for a couple miles---you should see how excited he gets when I grab the leash~ He was doing great, running with me--he holds about an 8:30 mile--We were on our last mile home and before I know it, he has wrapped the retractable leash around a mailbox, pulled it out of the ground, and is dragging the mailbox in his leash, all in a matter of seconds!!!!!! OMG---I looked around to see if we were causing a scene, unwrapped the leash, and Ollie is just sitting there, looking at me like, "What did I dooooo??" I yelled at him to stay, observed the mailbox for a second, and realized the wood holding it into the ground was rotted and it appeared that someone had placed it back in the hole in the ground temporarily (Whew, maybe Ollie DIDN'T do the damage!) No one was home, so all I could do was pick the leash back up and run the rest of the way home with him and my red-faced self. Ollie never even batted an eyelash at the poor mailbox. How do I always get myself into these situations??!! I have to go back and let someone know what happened today though----hopefully they will tell me it was already broken, like I assume.

This week has been very tiresome for me, training wise. I think I am hitting the burn-out phase of multiple marathoning. A great deal of my marathon training is that I have a great mental toughness when I set a goal for something. NY Marathon was a big goal for me, and when I was pleased with my time, Memphis was sort of on the back burner. I still want to do very well with Memphis marathon, but my mental attitude since NY is not there right now. It's a struggle to be able to get up in the early mornings, now that it's cold, and even though I do make myself get up, the run's are tiresome and I am just trying to push throught them. This morning, for instance, the alarm went off at 4:15 am. Matt always gets out of bed first. Ollie dog always jumps in the bed when Matt gets out (he is taking advantage of "alpha dog" haha!)

I lay around for ohhhhh.........20 more minutes ;)

THE SCENARIO

Matt(4:15am) -- "Morning Babe, get up"

Amanda--"nnooooooooooo.........I'm so tiiiiiiirrreedddd Mattt"

Matt-(4:25am) (after eating a snack) Amanda, you gotta get out of the bed"

Amanda-- "Matt, I'm sooooooo tired......I just wanna sleepppppppp.....I'm so tired I feel nauseousssssss:( Just a few more minutesssssssssss.........(in my pleading voice)

Matt-(4:30am) (Ollie is now laying on one side of the bed,on his back-with legs sprawled in the air,snoring--I'm on the other side, on my back, pretending to be asleep, hoping Matt will leave the room for another 5 minutes ;)
"You two are something else---what am I going to do with you?? Lazy, lazy, lazy"

Amanda- I promise I am getting up RIGHT now...........(did that sound persuasive, I wonder to myself? Maybe he will leave the room for just 5 more minutes ;)

Matt- (4:35am) (after checking his email) "All right babe, come on".......(picking me up, placing each foot on the ground one at a time, and this morning carrying me into the bathroom ---(while Ollie is trying to jump up in his arms at the same time b/c he is jealous)........All right, now you're up........get READY babe!!!! ;)

It's actually pretty entertaining to watch, I would imagine ;) Can we say SLEEP DEPRIVED???!!!!! hahaha!! Once I'm up and the run is over, I am a new woman..........(the steps to get me to that point, however, are a little much!)


Do not fret, however; This is not an everyday occurance (Well, it's only an occurance when Matt has to be done with running 12 miles before it's even LIGHT outside!!!!!! I'm not a complete lazy bum, I promise ;) I am just a big fan of sleep and comfort, none of which you can accomplish when running 12 milers before the sun comes up ;p)

I hope I am just suffering from a little post-marathon fatigue and not overtraining syndrome. My pace hasn't slowed very much---everything just seems to take more effort and with my mental toughness of having a goal to attain, it's harder than ever. Hope I get it back before Memphis or it ain't gonna be pretty ;(
Hopefully the taper after next week will do me some good. I need to start getting better sleep at night and tryihng not to be so stressed over things like the big month of patients at work (can't complain about more business), Christmas gifts, friends and family I am praying for in which I have no control over, etc.

I am going to take it all in stride and do what I so often tell others........"One day at a time, One day at a time"...........or at least until Ollie murders another neighborhood mailbox ;)

New York Marathon race report ----- and wonderful 8 day vacation ;)

Long time, no blog ;) I have been SO busy at work since I got back and getting things back to normal since we left for NYC that I haven't had time to post. So, on to the race report! After eating a great meal with friends of pizza at John's pizzeria off Times Square the night before the marathon, we were off to bed. (But not before I had a cupcake from Magnolia Bakery---yum :) I didn't sleep very well, but then again I never do before race day. I always make sure to get a good night's sleep 2 nights out instead and I am alway great on race day. 4 am came bright and early---got all my racing things together (much more easy than a triathlon :) and met Rick, a friend from Meridian, in the lobby of our hotel. We had to walk about 9 blocks to the buses for the marathon, which would drop us off at Staten Island to wait for the race to begin. And wait we did...........from 6am until 10 am !! Luckily, we got a spot in a big tent (never mind being packed like sardines---Hey, I was warm and not complaining ;) I tried to chill out and rest, but that's hard to do when you have to sit indian-style for almost 4 hours ;) There was a light drizzle outside and it was chilly, but it did end up clearing before the start of the race. I waited about 2 hours before the race to eat my peanut butter and bagel. Ok, so I had made multiple visits to the Port-a-pot during those 4 hours, due to hydrating so much that morning. I had one hour before my wave began, so I decided to make one final trip. Big mistake!!! Because I was in the first wave, we were to begin with the pro men, at 9:40 am. I stood in line for 45 minutes!!!!! Yes, 45 minutes, waiting for the #$%^! Port-a-pot!!!!!! Once I started looking for my wave start, I realized that we had camped out in the furtherest spot from the start.......awesome! So, I was running around like a mad woman, asking everyone where my wave was........It sounds like a simple thing, but when you are around 45,000 other runners, 50% who are foreign and don't speak English, it's not so simple. I was in the blue wave--easy enough......except for the fact that there were 3 different bibs that were blue. Blue bibs for wave start 1, blue bibs for wave start 2, and I don't even know what the other bibs were. A guy directed me to the wrong blue wave........ughh.....I will spare you the rest of the details, but I ended up running an extra mile to find the area I needed to be. I finally found my wave start--it was 9:30am.......whew! 10 minutes before the wave takes off.....except for the fact that they had blocked off my wave already and wouldn't allow me to jump in. Fantastic!!! This is getting off to a bad start, I told myself! I proceeded to jump in with the 2nd wave, whose numbers begin with 23,000. I was in the 9,000 wave........yeah, that's how many people were in front of where I was to begin :( Oh well.......what can you do? The positive side to this is that I did get to jump in at the beginning of the wave, which meant I didn't have a large crowd in front of me, and since my original wave was 20 minutes ahead of me, I had lots of room before I caught them! I said a prayer for God to watch over me and everyone during the race and we were off!!

The first mile was over Veranzo-Narrows bridge (sp?). It was almost 1 mile long I believe. Coming down the other side of the bridge, my watch said I hit a 7:06 pace.....can we say "not good?" Ughh.......I kept telling myself to slow down....there were many hills to come and I couldn't explode in this race from going out too fast. Lots of crowd support (amazing crowd support-much more than Boston!!!), adequate water stops, etc. I kept around a 7:33 pace until probably around mile 19? I need to go back and look at my watch. There were lots of bridges, which correlated to lots of hills!! I couldn't believe I was holding this pace, especially since my original goal was to go out slow on the 1st mile, then hit 7:45 splits evenly every mile. I just decided to go with it, and if I slowed, I slowed. I felt pretty good until Central Park. The last 3 miles are where I struggled. This is where hills are where you don't want to see hills:( Your legs are tired and beat up, and the last 3 miles of a marathon are a mental and physical struggle anyway. I made myself go from mile to mile. This always seems to work for me.....if I look at the big picture and start calculating how many miles I have left or how much time I have left out there, my mental toughness goes. Well, it worked. I hit pretty even splits at the end, except for mile 24, where there was a pretty significant hill thorugh the park. I heard my name around mile 25, and saw Matt in the crowd! That was a good pick-me-up that I needed so bad at that time. During the race, one of the large bridges was covered. My garmin watch got a little off-track from losing signal, so I was excited coming into the finish line. My watch said I was going to break 3:22. I was pushing to do this, because I was pretty close. I was a little disappointed to see that I didn't have a 3:21:53. (I know that's being very picky, but if you're a competitive runner, you understand trying to get under a certain minute mark if you're really close :) Looking back, I now wonder if I had started out slower around that 7:45 pace, if I could have picked it up and had a stronger race at the end. I am proud to have PR'd, nonetheless, and thank God for keeping me safe throughout the race and injury-free through some pretty high-volume training.



Great race!!!!! Tough, hilly course, but the spectators were out of this WORLD!!!! Even if you wanted to stop, they weren't going to let you!! One of the funny (or Matt might disagree :) situations we ran into during our vacation was the fact that I packed lots of boots----actually just one pair of black boots with heels-----problem was most of my outfits required the black boots to match :) Now, if you have ever tried to wear high heel boots after a marathon, let me tell you it's no fun.............to top off the "no fun", try to do it in NYC, where the majority of every day requires walking. Top that off with the fact that we had to catch multiple subways, which require steps to get down to the subway.........Matt was not a happy camper trying to walk "Grandma Cassell" around on Monday after the Sunday marathon ;) We quickly (or not so quickly with my slow self) made a trip to a store to buy some FLAT boots ;) I won't make this blog too much longer----I've probably lost your attention by now ;) We did LOTS in NYC though------saw the play "Wicked"---absolutely wonderful!!! Central Park had to be my favorite place---we did a couple runs before and after the marathon, and it has to be the most beautiful during the Fall. Amazing colors and just gorgeous scenery everywhere!!!

We visited the Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, Top of the Rock, Natural History Museum, wax museum, Dylan's candy store, 5th avenue (Tiffany's, Saks, Versace), 9/11 memorial, Chinatown and Little Italy,

lots of badddd eating (John's pizza, Ray's pizza, Junior's cheesecake, Pommes Frites belgian fries, Carmine's italian, Tao, Mesa Grill,Magnolia Bakery, Planet Hollywood, ........oh my gosh did I eat all of that junk????!!!!!!!!!!)



I am going on a diet today!!!!!!!!!!! LOL!! At least we had a healthy breakfast and lunch the majority of the time ;) Does that even it out?:)


We had a great vacation---




I am blessed to have a husband whom I enjoy being around so much and that totally "gets" me.......high-heel boots and all Now it's "Back to Life-Back to Reality"(as the song goes:) Things are going great for us right now---busy, busy, busy!! (Well,not Matt, he has a very laid-back month---jealous!!!!) We had an awesome triathlon party on Monday evening with pro triathlete Justin Daerr. He spoke to the group and it was a fun night for sure. It was fun getting to visit with triathlon friends we haven't seen much of since tri season as well. Training picked up for me again this week--Memphis marathon is only 3 more weeks away---hope my body is recovered and ready to go again. I'm finally feeling almost back to normal--my speed is there, just not the tiredness that proceeds a marathon. Matt is going to smoke this one as long as he can fight off the cramps he sometimes get in endurance events. Lastly, I introduced a close friend to Pinelake, our church, this past Sunday. She loves it and I'm so glad she might start attending regularly soon :)

All for now---------have a great rest of the week!!

A lot on my mind...........

I have had one busy week!! Work is very busy this week, but I can't complain about that--that's a good thing :) I have been extra stressed trying to help a friend in need right now. I am so worried about them but know that God is leading them every step of the way right now. Due to privacy, that's all I can say. Matt and I are both praying for this person right now and wish for much happiness for them in their future. They deserve this so much and I know it will come for them.

My father also heard the news from the doctor this week that none of us were wanting to hear. My step-mother has Alzheimer's disease. All we can do is pray right now and know that it is all in God's hands....taking one day at a time together. I am so worried about him and want him to also take care of himself. It is unknown how soon he will need to retire, but the doctor did say that she couldn't be left alone. Please pray that it will all work out and there will be peace with this situation. It is so hard for them both right now. I just can't imagine how hard it must be.

We are in the process of packing right now (I actually started last week......yeah, I know, but I like to get a head start ;) for New York. Our flight leaves EARLY around 6:00 am Friday. I am supposed to run that morning according to the plan.......I really don't think that's going to happen ! LOL!
Matt is still debating over the NY Yankees world series tickets. They are going to be expensive, but I told him I would stand behind whatever decision he makes. This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, but we just don't know if the expense it worth it. Must decide soon though! Right now, we're just dealing with last-minute things, like booking the vet for Ollie to be boarded while we're away (he LOVES that place!!!), buying maps, reserving restaurants, etc.

That's all for now.............hope everyone is having a good week.

Happy Fall Ya'll !!

So, after ALL the rain over the last few weeks and me growing tired of picking up 3 scarecrows about 50 times after the rain/wind would knock them on their faces, we made a trip to the local farmer's market to purchase a hay bail :) Isn't it cute?!

The good news for the week? Matt passed his Internal Medicine boards with flying colors ;) I think I was more excited about it than him!! Now, one last step-----Hematology/Oncology boards in the future..............I bet he will be glad when he doesn't have to take any more tests!!

Not much going on this week------tapering for the marathon..........never knew my mind would become so altered on what a longer run is considered. 10 and 12 milers are a piece of cake now------kind of like my mind used to think of 5 milers. It's crazy what your body will get adjusted to when you train it with volume.

Plans for the weekend include the Lake Caroline 15K. Matt is planning on racing it. I am planning on running it as a training run with some friends----possibly a 1 mile warmup and cool down to get my last longer length run in before New York..........can't believe we will be leaving in less than a week!!!!!! Matt is in hopes that the Yankees will make it to game 6 of the World Series.....It would fall on the Wednesday that we are in NY!!! We shall see!! Matt is going to work at the VA Saturday afternoon/evening and Sunday afternoon to make a little extra dough.

Leaving you with a cute note, my little 4-year-old niece, Anne Elise, stays with my mom during the week. My sister, Elisa, has started saving baby clothes for me for the future when I will need them. Lately, my mom has been putting them up in a safe spot upstairs at her home. She says Anne Elise goes upstairs every morning, refolds the clothes, and says, " I am getting these ready for the baby, Nana". I think she is under the impression that I will be having a baby VERY soon :) Last November, she was staying at my house one night and said to me, "I want a baby for Christmas, Manda". I said, "Oh, do you now? Where are you going to get one of those?" She replied, "You" :) LOL!!!!!!!

Self-control and Cardboard box confetti :) aka---race report

So, what if your dog eats your 2nd thermometer? Guess it means you might have a hypochondriac dog (according to my Dad ;) LOL! .........and no, I am NOT joking!!!!


Saturday morning arrived---4:15 am, rise and shine---Matt actually set the alarm for that time because he is on call this weekend. Between his pages going off all night from the on-call patient line and me tossing and turning, I think I only got 2 1/2 hours sleep. Oh well!!.....I was just happy to be feeling better! Layed in bed being lazy a little while longer, eating a Clif bar and some Powerade Zero, while Matt got ready for work. Finally dragged myself out of bed and starting getting ready. It was in the 40's that morning............something we haven't seen in MS in a LONG time ;) I was happy because that means a better running day, but also scared because that could mean I would get sick again.

I headed on over to the race---called Staci, one of my old running buddies, on the way, and we met up. We did a 1 mile warm-up beforehand and I pretty much decided then that I was going to be "smart". Now, as Matt can fully tell you, one of the fun things for me about race day is the huge amount of adrenaline I get from races. I seem to get this extra energy out of nowhere and it is what I believe helps drive me on race day. I did feel it Saturday morning, but for once, I kept telling myself, "this race may matter right NOW, but what if something happens and it ruins NY marathon?" How upset would I be? No question. I was going to use this as a training run. I was going to make it a marathon-pace training run, just so I could give myself a little motivation during the race. I felt like if I could hold marathon pace after being sick all week, then you add a taper to that before NY, I have a strong chance of doing well. I also knew I hadn't hydrated well over the last few days, though, and I was scared this would catch up with me. The cool weather would be on my side though.







I will have to say I was proud of myself. If you are a competetive athlete, you understand why. I am SO well trained right now and I wanted to just go out there and see how I could perform. I know this would have been my strongest half ever. Nonetheless, I didn't. I told Staci and her friend, Adam, good luck. The race started, and I took my time. Not to say that I was poking around out there--I was still going to try for marathon pace, but I didn't have that excitement feeling of pushing my body or anticipation of how I would finish. I got passed at first by LOTS of people. Oh well, I said. Maybe they don't have a marathon in 2 weeks----stick to the PLAN, Amanda!!!!!!!!! .........and sticking to the plan I did :) The run was pretty uneventful, to be honest. I wish I could say there was more crowd support, but, Uh, I don't think I would have stood out there in the cold either :) The wind going across the spillway of the reservoir was harsh!!!! I pretty much kept pace the entire time. I sped up a little bit from miles 11-13 on the trail, but other than that, it went as planned. I passed Adam again and asked him how Staci was feeling. He told me she was having a great day and was up ahead. Staci has had issues with a couple of stress fractures over the last year and is not up to full potential again, but she is getting it back fast!




Staci and I did another mile cool down to get in a few more miles and then talked a little while with friends. Staci ended up getting 1st in her division and I got second! I kept a 7:39 pace and was excited that I felt good and think I might be fully recovered from the flu or whatever I had this week. It feels so good to not be sick!!! I am becoming a wus in my old days!! ha!

Matt ended up getting home from work around lunch so we had lunch together after I got changed and showered. I had to buy food for our triathlon team party tonight----I have a chocolate fountain with yummy strawberries, and different sides that I can't wait to use tonight!

Other weekend fun included sushi and a movie last night----Law Abiding Citizen---fantastic movie, minus the gore factor!!!!!!!! Talk about a man getting justice for someone killing his family??? Gerard Butler is fantastic in this movie and it keeps you on the edge of your seat the entire time----It really was a well thought out 10 years that man spent planning his scheme. Ok, not going to spoil it!!! GO SEE IT!!!!! You won't be disappointed ;)


And, last but not least, I will leave you all with what we walked into last night after a lovely dinner and a movie--------






Yes, Ollie decided to have his own personal dinner and a reading----with the case of books I left by the door to take to our meeting tomorrow---the books that Dane wrote to have signed(he shipped them to my house!!!!!............Oh MY GOSH!!!!!! You have to laugh to keep from crying. Matt said we might as well just start learning to take this stuff in stride, because this will be similar to our kids! Regardless, of all this mess, thank God Ollie only truly damaged 3 books. He had a magnificent time with the cardboard box they were in though-----Mr. Cardboard box and Ollie dog seemed to bond QUITE well.........................until next time!!! (p.s. Sorry Dane :( I am going to pay you for the books tonight :(

How do you take your temperature when your dog eats the thermometer ?;)

Good question-----luckily I found another one in our bathroom drawer! That Ollie dog is something else!!!! Today has been a rather "blah" week for me........luckily Matt hasn't gotten the sickness yet. It started Tuesday around noon. I felt great and had a fast (probably too fast) 11 miler that morning. I had to do an inservice for the Gastroenterology group at Baptist and it went great---got a doctor to write a referral while I was still giving the lunch, so I was super excited about this!!!! The rest of the day, I just continued to feel weak with body aches and sore throat and congestion---made it through the day and when I got home checked my temp-
100.7 Ugh---this is no good, I thought. I had to call in sick yesterday and pretty much did nothing all day or night........I literally had to give myself a pep talk to take a shower........"come on, Amanda, you can DO it" ;) Seriously, though, I have felt like pure crap. Last night, temp got up to 102. Matt said maybe it was God's way of slowing me down a little bit..........I tend to take on a little too much sometimes, for those of you that don't know me well ;) LOL! I woke up this morning with no fever so decided I would try to make it through the work day. Still not feeling great this morning, but I am taking a week off for NY in a couple weeks, so I hated to miss any more days. You don't often realize how great it feels to feel healthy until you are sick. Wow! It reminds you to count your blessings for sure.
I went to the screenprint shop to pick up our new long-sleeved MS Heat tri team shirts ---they look awesome! We are having a meeting this Sunday with a great speaker, Dane Rauschenberg--he wrote the book, 52 weekends, 52 marathons. We should have a great crowd!!
As for the half marathon this Saturday, I really don't know what's going to happen. I am playing it by ear. But my 3 options are

1) Race it----(don't know if this will be wise--even if I am feeling wonderful tomorrow, most likely I am not fully recovered yet and might go back into relapse--the last thing I want is to not be ready for NY marathon!)
2) Run it as a training run(my plan calls for a 17 miler this wknd---I would run the course since I paid $80 for this race anyway--and do a 2 mile warm up and 2 mile cool down to get in the full distance
3) Skip the half marathon all together and try my long run for Sunday (this might
mess things up for the next week of training-on the other hand, it would give me
more rest to fully recover)

Decisions, decisions........ugh. But, I am definitely thankful it is not the week of NY marathon..........talk about a moody woman in the household!!!!!! My friend from Shubuta, Staci, is going to be in town and she will be racing as well. She is going to do great as always!! At least I can cheer her on if I don't race!

Matt is on call this weekend, so he won't be able to run the race. He is going to try to get up and possibly get a 15 miler in before work (work is at 7:30am !!!!) Bless his heart, I don't know how he does it.

That's all for now...this weekend will be a last minute decison. Weather looks to be perfect at least!!

Rain, Rain, Go Awayyyyyy

Hello again! I am considering taking up a part-time job to build an ark. I really wonder if I could get some business? ;) Is it EVER going to stop raining??!!!! I know we should be thankful for the rain, but man, it is starting to get a lil depressing.............maybe I could start marketing umbrellas as a friend suggested?;)

Not much news around the Cassell household. I have finally begun a slight decrease in my run volume starting today. I was beginning to feel the impact of the high volume weeks. Last week, I got the flu shot and didn't feel good for a couple days after, but that's much better than getting the flu I suppose!

We have found a new love for sushi (or shall I say Matt has found a new love for sushi-I have always liked it!) We enjoyed very good sushi at Nagoya Friday night. Matt always gets hibachi, but I love the sushi. The Nagoya roll is sooo good, although not the healthiest of sushi :D We hung out with friends Saturday afternoon-watched the game, grilled some burgers,and played with their two kids. We realize we are very spoiled now with no kids!!!! The house is so quiet when we come home and we are free to do whatever we please.......we both remind each other from time to time that we better not take it for granted now because once our family starts growing, I doubt we will have many relaxing days :) Our friends told us that as well ;) lol! We also went to the movies to watch Couples Retreat...........so funny!!! I loved it!

Sunday, Matt took his first shift at the VA from 2pm-8pm. It's a great way for him to make some extra $$$. Although I would much rather have him at home, a few hours at the hospital is great for supporting all the lovely trips we like to take ;)

I'm still debating the half marathon this weekend that I planned on running. My friend called me today to let me know that the deadline was at midnight tonight....glad she called because I am somewhat of a procrastinator and would have waited until Thursday night and then my choice would have been answered for me!

I arrived home today to find that Ollie had closed himself into the laundry room......no idea how but leave it to Ollie to find a way ;) He had made him a little bed on the towels on the floor and was napping away until I came home. It wasn't until after I noticed that he wasn't on his usual spot on the couch that I heard a loud bump (that would be him letting me know he is in the laundry room:) Oh, fun times!!!