I couldn't let this day go by without congratulating PIPO and Kelli on their referrals!

Since the CCAA finished off February in 2008, according to this site we now move up to a prospective referral on October 31 2011. I know it doesn't sound great, believe me, but IF this is true we're less than three years to Little Maple. I'm ALMOST at the point where I can accept it (I don't really have a choice)...it's not what we wanted or obviously how long we wanted it to take, but it WILL happen.

I can't wait for the March referrals to start rolling in...I have a number of friends who are finally getting theirs SO soon.

***Holy cow, I just looked up our prospective referral date here, I didn't look to see that we're officially UNDER 200 days until OUR referral.***

I checked my email last night and I got one from my (new) FAVOURITE store saying that they were having a Boxing Day sale. Every "holiday" item (let's be real, they're almost all Christmas-y) was buy one, get one free. The email mentioned that the sale was NOT going to be in stores, but I thought that was silly and was debating about buying all my stuff online. Then I started thinking...I'd have to pay for postage and handling (which goes by weight), and I'd end up not saving very much.

So, I called up my local Lush store and asked if they were having a sale. The saleslady replied "OH YEAH!" (she sounded a bit like the Koolaid guy before he smashes through a wall). I asked her if it was the same as the online sale and she said "no". As I started to feel a bit dejected, she then added "our sale is better!"

When I got to the till, she told me that the bath bombs weren't "buy one, get one free"...they were "buy one, get TWO free".

In the end I got eight bars of soap, six bath bombs, the four bottles of Snow Fairy, a bubble bath bar (and a partridge in a pear tree). Ahhh, I'm in heaven. :)

If you have a Lush store near you, don't walk...RUN for this sale. :)

Whichever holiday you celebrate, I hope you're with your family and having a wonderful get together!

To enjoy the video, turn off the music in the sidebar first...

I tried looking for Chanukkah-themed cat pics, but sadly, I couldn't find any that amused me... so you'll have to settle for this instead. :P

...well Happy Birthday, K2!

Go wish him a happy birthday now...and make sure he's not lying on the floor in a candy daze.

(Posted by Josh)

I realize that some of you are digging out from mountains of snow, but it took this long for me to find the time to write about our trip up to the Bruce Peninsula.

The Bruce Peninsula is a narrow strip of land that juts out into Georgian Bay/Lake Huron and is famous for shipwrecks, rock climbing and spectacular fall colours.
















The region is also home to Canada’s answer to Groundhog Day – Wiarton Willy. He is a rather plump white groundhog who represents the only reason to visit Wiarton.

We did our bit for the economy and bought a stuffed Wiarton Willy. Willy sits in the back seat on my car along with other plush zoo animals, securely belted into the back seat. On one visit to Nic, Tim and Zubin, the whole zoo was sitting happily in my car and no-one questioned why there were five stuffed animals belted into my car. My answer at the border…safety first!

These pictures were taken at Inglis Falls Conservation area and Tobermory. It was here we saw fall colours, waterfalls and heard gunfire. We later discovered that there was hunting range nearby and could hear the rifle shots in the distance. Signs warned us to wear bright clothing. We were both wearing dark clothes and were in some heavy brush. We would have been better off with orange vests and doing a silly walk a la John Cleese to avoid being shot.












































The rustic charm on the region was confirmed by the soda-pop machines that were converted to sell “live bait” (freshness guaranteed) at the local milk store. Yech!






























I realize there are all sorts of places in Toronto that had fall colours, but this place is special. It’s the very end of the Niagara escarpment; it has Ontario history going back at least 150 years, with natural history going back to the last ice age. It is a place I one day hope to take little one.
















For a split-second I imagined myself holding a little hand, walking through the crunching leaves explaining to her why the rocks look the way they do, why the leaves turn colour and having a debate as to who will have the bigger tummy-ache on the drive home, her or her Mother, after visiting Tobermory’s own “Sweet Shop”. This sweet shop is an island of yumminess in an ocean or crappy truck stops and greasy spoons. Add it to the list…

Today marks our 27 month LIDiversary, and since my new motto is that "chocolate cures everything", I decided to put that into full effect by making an obscenely fattening and scrumpdilicious chocolate turtle cheesecake. The recipe can be found here. It turned out REALLY well, the only change I would make is adding extra finely chopped pecans to the crust, there wasn't quite enough to fill the bottom of the pan. If any of you want to make it, I'd suggest another half a cup.

Have you stopped drooling yet?

We met up with our good friend D (who some of you met at our housewarming last year) and went out for dinner. We went to a really good Ethiopian restaurant and stuffed our faces until we begged for mercy ate leisurely.

Afterwards we came back to our place and had a SMALL piece of cheesecake. We had to. Really.

If anyone wants to come over for a piece of cheesecake, we have TONS leftover...seriously. :)













This month I added a charm that was sent to us by Doris, Dan and Daisy. The charm is a daisy which represents her sweet dog. :)

She also sent me a note attached to the charm that said this was from her bracelet, but she wanted Little Maple to have the charm and she loved the idea of passing it on to her.

So do I.

Thank you SO much for the beautiful charm. I'm sure little one will treasure it always. :)

Today is her birthday...go wish her a good one!