How McDonald’s Canada’s Happy Meals Can Reveal the Joy of Reading!

I love reading. I’ve always been reading. As long as I can remember I’ve been reading! My penchant for stories defined me from my earliest days—I devoured tales faster than my Mom could get ’em from the Mississauga Library! I don’t even know what my life would look like if it weren’t for reading—it’s part of just about everything I do. Business case writing. Blogging. Even the spelling bees I’d win when I was eight. Reading’s proved essential to my growth, and I have no plans for my children to do without it, either.

But I should count us lucky. There’re thousands of Canadian kids growing up without a reading culture in their lives. And I get it—parents are too busy. Too tired. And it definitely doesn’t help that thousands of Canadian children don’t even have a book in their homes! Reading’s key to unlocking a child’s potential—if you rob them of reading, who knows what opportunities they’ll miss?

How McDonald's Happy Meals Can Reveal the Joy of Reading!—Kids Being Read to by Paulette Bourgeois

Knowing it’s far better to be part of the solution since being part of the problem hurts us all, McDonald’s Canada introduced an excellent way to get books into the hands of children who might not have them otherwise!

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Review

Last updated on November 11th, 2020 at 01:37 am

It feels like a lifetime ago, but once, reading was all I did.

Orson Scott Card’s Enderverse. Piers Anthony’s Xanth series. Even when the Harry Potter books were on the rise, I could devour pages by the hundreds in a matter of days.

But life’s changed a lot in the last decade. I’ve got two kids now. Responsibilities on all fronts. Heck—even when I do have free time, I’m working on things to improve every other part of my life!

The sad truth is that despite an ever-growing book collection, the only ones I find time to read these days involve Curious George and the Berenstain Bears for my sons’ bedtimes.

But perhaps part of the problem is how I approach reading.

For better or worse, my life involves a ton of multi-tasking. I write posts with Netflix playing on my second monitor, passively keeping up with the world while I work. Or do chores to my tunes to avoid getting distracted. The Amazon Kindle Paperwhite boasts features like a glare-free 300 ppi display that reads like a printed page—even in bright sunlight—and a battery that last weeks, not hours, but perhaps the best feature it has for me is that it just reads books.

Doing Reading Right with the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite—Front View Black

The 2016 100 Wrap-Up, Part 2: 46 Things I DIDN’T Do But Still Very Much WANT To.

Last updated on January 3rd, 2023 at 02:27 am

So somewhere in my crazy mind, I’d convinced myself it’d be a good idea to write my wrap-up for The 2016 100 all as one post, because I’m always so curt with my posts, of course. A few days of working on it quickly killed that idea, and here were are with the second part of my wrap-up, covering the things I didn’t get around to in 2016, but still plan to manage this year, as well as my reasons why.

(Note: You will see these in some form in The 2017 100, so you know—don’t be too surprised.)


What I Didn’t Do, But Still Want to Do Next Year

7) Stop biting my nails—Ugh. What I probably need to do first is reduce the amount of stress in my life to get a better chance of dropping this disgusting habit. I had a good run early in the year, but hey. Maybe I’ll have better luck this time!
8) Get rid of the wedding thank you cards I never sent—I don’t think those past thank you’s are getting sent. It’s just… not something I’m doing. Instead, I think I’d love to start sending Christmas letters with some personalisation. I’m not a complete jackass, guys, but there needs to be a point where we agree to move on.
13) Sort out my old TD employee RSP—Any outstanding finances in general, really: part of being an adult is knowing how much your insurance will pay out. What your benefits cover. What’s in your stock portfolio. 2017 Casey Palmer needs a better handle on all this kind of stuff!

The 2016 100 Wrap-Up, Part 2—46 Things I DIDN'T Do But Very Much Still WANT To.—A Cluttered Casey Palmer Workspace

14) Consolidate everything down to a single notepad—I mean, you don’t see the magic happening, but my desk and dining room table are plastered with pages of notes as I draft out my posts. Will it happen? Maybe. Do I want it to? Oh heck yes ?

%d bloggers like this: