It was exactly one year ago today that Megan and I drove to Waco to meet Cathy Heuermann and bring tiny, blind Stevie home to Austin. Megan recalls being scared sh--less when she saw Stevie. She says, "I couldn't believe she was so small. All I could think was holy crap, what have I gotten myself into?!"

I look at those first pictures of when we picked her up, and although she has lost her puppy dimensions, she is still small at just under 5 lbs. Both Megan and Stevie have adjusted wonderfully. Cases in point:

1) Although Stevie rarely barks, she will occasionally jump straight up in the middle of the night (under the blankets) , bark once, then go back to sleep.

2) Megan and Stevie often play "Go find Lucy" (the orange "devil" ball with feet). Megan will tell Stevie "Go find Lucy" and typically, Stevie will run off in search of Lucy and will come running back a couple of minutes later with Lucy in tow. This time, though, she came back with the bone. Again, Megan told her: "Go find Lucy!" A moment later, Stevie came back with the neon frog. Megan looked at her. "That's not Lucy! Go find Lucy!" Stevie ran off and returned with her plastic keys. Baffled, Megan finally got up and went to find out where the heck Lucy was. She looked in the bathroom, and there was Lucy, head down in the water bowl with her feet sticking up in the air.

3) Stevie continues to learn where things are. She can now jump up onto the bed without the use of the doggie stairs, but she doesn't always know she can do it. She usually gets all excited and just shows up on the bed all of a sudden.

4) Megan continues to find new names for Stevie. The latest is her "Transformer" name: Piddlebot. I'm sure you can figure that one out quite easily.

It has been a year of learning for Megan, professed cat person, and little Stevie who still has no idea that she is different than any other dog on the planet. I'm certain the years ahead will also provide many new learning experiences for both. And those experiences will still be chronicled here for all those interested parties to read.

Cheers!
G