Well, it’s been my first full-week back at work after spending most of last week sick at home, battling a stubborn cough that had taken up seemingly permanent residence in my chest. As you might know, ours is a small editorial team here at Our Canada and More of Our Canada, and when one person is away from the office for any length of time, the pressure on the others to pick up the slack increases exponentially with each passing day. So, thanks and kudos to my colleagues -- Simon, Maryanne, Jennifer, Robert and Tania  -- for keeping everything moving forward, including so many of the pages I normally work on, while I was home hacking my lungs out. The only thing you forgot to do was add my usual bevy of typos, but, hay, that’s okay...I’ll get right on that.

On the topic of work, I don’t know about you, but I seem to be putting in more hours (when I’m not luxuriating in my sick bed, that is) and making less money. And the money I do make certainly doesn’t go as far as it used to. So, like many of you, I’m sure, I’m expecting my Christmas shopping to be a little bit more restrained this year. And we’ll be doing our best to keep our grocery bill under control, too. One way to do that, of course, is to use the myriad of coupons that find their way into our home. I know, I know -- it’s a hassle to clip, save and sort them all-- and I don’t do it personally (do you?). But take a look at the savings this woman in the States pulls off on a regular basis...and just imagine what she could accomplish with Canadian Tire money!



Before I head off for the weekend, I’ll leave you with this selection from a computer-generated musical contraption that gives new meaning to the phrase, “Follow the bouncing ball.”