Happy Haunting!

New York Fun

Elliott got a first-hand look at grandma's
favorite NYC building, Grand Central Terminal.

Last weekend, my daughter and I took my 6-year-old grandson to New York City.  It was his first trip to the Big Apple.  Elliott is a great traveler, flexible and inquisitive.  He enjoyed the city, but mostly liked seeing his aunt and uncle who live on Long Island.  

It was a good trip.  Hurricane Sandy didn't mess with any of our plans.  And, Sunday night, our flight was one of the last to leave La Guardia, arriving in St. Louis 45 minutes early.

Good trip, good memories.

Elliott was very happy to see Aunt Zuae. . .

and Uncle Dan.

Owl Rescue

Last night, while watching television, we heard a familiar thud.  This time, however, the thud was louder, so I was immediately afraid it was the owl Jim saw in the backyard a few days ago.  We flipped on all the back lights and there he was, a stunned barred owl laying on the steps that lead to the three-season room.

Sadly, every year, several song birds fly into the walls of the three-season room, which are a series of sliding glass doors.  Each death is upsetting, of course, but not as disturbing as seeing that huge beautiful owl laying flat on his back.

After an hour, the owl did manage to slide off the stairs, but he was still flat on his back with his eyes wide open.  Jim scooped him up, put him in a box, and left him in the garage overnight.  He was still alive this morning, so I took him to the World Bird Sanctuary in Valley Park, MO.

I honestly was shocked when they lifted the owl out of the box and he was able to stand upright.  Their initial exam confirmed no broken bones and no evidence of internal hemorrhaging.  The vet comes tomorrow, so he'll get a more thorough examination then.  In the meantime, he's safe and in good hands.

Lovin' Groupon

I'm starting to love Groupon.com.  A few weeks ago, I got $20 to spend at a local pizzeria for $10. I ended up paying nothing, however, because Groupon had just sent me a $10 credit.  And last week I bought an $89 massage at my favorite spa for $39.  But, again, I ended up paying $10 less, just $29, because Groupon had sent me another $10 credit.

Today I got a $50 iTunes gift card for $40.  It was good timing, because I'll be purchasing one or two movies to download to my iPad for the upcoming trip to New York City.  No Groupon credit this time, but still a nice offer.

I used to just delete the Groupon.com daily email offers, because, in the beginning, the offers didn't interest me.  Not anymore!  Now I look forward to my daily Groupon email.  Who doesn't like saving money!

(FYI, yesterday I added some of my Halloween cards to DGPaperDesigns.)