I don't know if it was the maple syrup or the 80 degree F in the oven, but my kefir grains are working! Last night I wrapped the jar in a towel and placed in the oven with the light on (no heat of course) and a thermometer.  This morning the formerly clear amber water was cloudy. I removed the coffee filter topper and stirred things up a bit. A few hours later I took a peak and I had BUBBLES and even a few floating little grains! I took a little taste and it's still really sweet, but there is definitely another flavor there (not unpleasant I might add.)  The fellow I got the grains from said not to let the grains sit more than 48 hours in the same liquid, so I'm not switching them over tonight. Tomorrow I'll put them back in unbleached sugar water and try a secondary fermentation with this, maybe toss in some ginger just to see what happens.

Now I'm starting to get a bit excited  and was going to snap a picture, but the water is so cloudy it's really hard to see anything.