Stevie has been trying to shake the crap out of her pooh bear blanket and her little bed... while she's sitting in it. I laugh just thinking about it. I haven't witnessed it yet, but the description makes a funny picture in my head.

Today Megan and Stevie were playing their version of fetch, and now Stevie has added another new twist... Megan asks "are you ready?" and tells her "go long!" and Stevie runs after the toy... and comes back with whatever's closest. I guess any toy will do when you're having fun.

We're discussing another weekend visit, so, naturally, I'll have more photos if that comes to pass. Rainy weather sure doesn't make me want to drive, but the thought of all those puppy kisses and seeing how much she's grown usually wins out. :)

Stay dry out there!

G

Austin Community College was closed again today -- winter weather made Austin seem more like Alaska in spring. Megan said she's sure Stevie is convinced she doesn't have a job. They watched a couple more movies today and Megan (she's a photographer as well as teacher and academic advisor) did some work in Photoshop.

Megan said Stevie has become transfixed with a new Greenies chew bone (not the edible kind, but the kind that are sorta like nylabones). She walks around the apartment with it hanging out of her mouth like a big cigar. At one point, Megan kicked the blue ball with the bell in it and said, "Go long!" Stevie ran after it, bone hanging out of her mouth. She found the ball, tried for a couple of minutes to figure out how to get the ball without giving up the bone, then decided the bone was more important. She left the ball where it landed and trotted off, bone in mouth, to ponder more important things, like staying warm, and how to keep anybody from taking her new bone.

G

We actually had real, live SNOW here in Austin and Central Texas today, with temperatures never getting above 28 - 30. Unusual for us, even in the dead of winter.

I was talking to Megan this evening and she said Stevie was more wound up than usual, and at that moment, was doing her best to pull the blankets entirely off the bed and onto the floor. I told her she probably had cabin fever like most folks here by now.

Megan said she still couldn't believe sometimes that she had a dog (and couldn't help throwing in that it's all my fault, of course). She said when we went to get her from foster mom Cathy, whom we met in Waco, she couldn't believe how small she was and she was so afraid she would hurt her. Stevie does have that Min Pin penchant for getting under foot without one realizing it, but even though she is bigger now, she's still pretty small. Still, they both manage quite well, thank you. It was a lucky -- and wonderful -- day for both of them when Megan decided to make the leap from "cat person" to "dog person". Sometimes it's *good* to have things be your fault. :)
G

Stevie and Megan spent the day much as many of us here in Central Texas did -- trying to stay warm and indoors! The community college has already declared that all its campuses will be closed tomorrow, so the two of them get another day "off", another day to turn up the heat and read a book or watch movies. Megan insisted that Stevie was acting "weird" today. I told her it was no doubt because of the cold. They were watching a movie in the bedroom, and I think Stevie wanted Megan to hang up and pull up the blankets! Growing little Min Pins don't have much hair or body fat... gotta rely on soft-hearted humans to help 'em out in mean old winter weather.

Stay warm and dry - keep the shiny side up!

G

Life with Stevie... Megan informed me that Stevie is trying to master the fine art of multi-tasking, particularly when it comes to playing with her toys. She was running around with "Mr. Bluefoot" (a squeaky blue rubber ball with two feet and a "dinosaur" tail) and wouldn't let go of it even though her intent was to try to get her ball with the bell inside of it at the same time. In fact, she wants to play with as many of her toys as possible all at once. She's nothing if not persistent.

Megan also wants Stevie to learn how to climb up and down stairs since her current apartment is on the second floor. But she didn't want to try to teach her on the apartment stairs because they're the kind that are open at the back, just asking for a puppy mishap. So she has a little plastic step stool that she put at the end of her bed to show Stevie how to get up on the bed without any help. She has actually done it twice pretty much on her own. I told Megan she may regret teaching this to Stevie, but really, it's only a matter of time before she figures it out anyway. She has gotten tall enough to begin reaching for things on the second shelf of the bookcase that Megan had moved from the bottom shelf not so long ago. "Puppy-proof" takes on new meanings as puppies grow. I guess "puppy-proofing" is kind of like owning a house... you're never really done with it.

G

P. S. - Megan sent me a photo of the squeaky orange ball with feet and horns... I'm going to post it next, so you can see what we're talking about.

G