Snow 'n' Joe.

Yep, it actually snowed this weekend all the way down here in Birmingham, Ala. I think this is the first snow I've seen stick since we moved here in 2005.

So how did I enjoy the winter wonderland of 1/20th an inch of snow? I ran out in my pajamas with Jonas, a camera and a dog biscuit. A few snaps later, Jonas had his treat, and I was back inside, sipping coffee next to the roaring fireplace.

All in all, a damn fine weekend.

The look that made Jonas a Griner.

We finally got a decent photo the other day for our Christmas card, and when I saw Jonas' expression, it seemed familiar. Eventually, it hit me. It looked almost identical to the photo taken at the pound in California.

On the left, you can see the original photo that ran on a rescue group's adoption page. I was actually just visiting the page to ensure I was printing the Web address correctly in our newspaper's weekly Adopt-a-Pet feature. Jonas (actually called Wally at that point), was at the top of the page, and I was smitten right away.

Obviously, the Christmas card photo is on the right. Three years have elapsed between the two shots, but Joe still knows how to fire up the charm on occasion. (Especially if the cameraman -- my dad in this case -- makes a weird noise right before the shot.)

Home security redefined.

Found this photo while I was organizing our external drive and decided to give it the lolcats treatment. Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!

When no one's looking.

Had to run home today for a few minutes so the TV repair guys could pick up the set. When I got there, it was quiet. Too quiet.

Assuming Jonas had not again broken INTO the house, I decided he probably just hadn't noticed me pull up.

So I carefully went into the house, grabbed the camera and snapped a photo of what he secretly does when no one's around during the day.

Witness the SHOCKING TRUTH. If you dare!

Bless his heart, he's a beautiful flower.

Poor Jonas. He couldn't resist biting off his bandage, so today the vet exiled him to coneville.

This is apparently the new kind of "soft" cone. He supposed to wear it at all times, but I don't think he deserves to be walked around the neighborhood in that.

No good conversation starts with, "Sorry we had to meet this way..."

So work's been kicking my ass this week (and last week), and I was quite excited about a relaxing night at home yesterday. Maybe some podcasting, some TV, some of Karen's leftover birthday cookie cake.

Sadly, no. I walked in the door and Karen said, "Oh good, you're home! I'm worried about Jonas."

Turns out, while she was taking him on his daily walk, Jonas got jumped by a golden retriever-looking dog that usually just barks at him from behind a fence. Luckily, the owner and another neighbor were there to pull the dog off quickly, and Jonas seemed unfazed.

But at home, Karen saw that the wound on Jonas' leg was pretty deep. That was when I came in. I agreed it was pretty serious, and we were able to catch the vet at 5:55 and beg them to stay open.

The vet said the bite had gone down to the bone and nearly separated a tendon in his ankle. She had to put him under, sew him up with nine stitches and give him the stylish bandage you see in the photo above.

The anesthesia was pretty disorienting for Jonas, so he spent much of the night crying. All in all, though, he was a trooper.

As for me, I got to go have a fun conversation with our neighbor. I had never met him, and here I was showing up with a $350 receipt in hand. But he was extremely apologetic and promised to "take care of it." He seems like an earnestly good guy, so hopefully we'll get that money back. If the attack had been just a few minutes later, he might have owed us $1,000 or so for the emergency vet.

Anyway, just had to share our fun evening. To be honest, I still squeezed in some cookie cake and TV. Karen's cousin's girlfriend is in the new series The Black Donnellys, but sadly (we realized halfway through the show) she doesn't appear until the second episode. So keep an eye out next week!

UPDATE: Before I could even hit the "publish" button, I got a call from the other dog's owner. He's working with the vet to reverse the charges on our credit card and switch it over to his. Says he'll call when he's gotten confirmation about it. So huzzah for being neighborly.

UPDATE 2: Karen says the vet bill has been resolved. Woohoo!