Maybe I’ve gotten like this every year since I started taking blogging more seriously, but as we approach the end of 2015, I’ve written up a storm.
I’ve put a lot on my plate — 32 Things I’ve Learned Now That I’m 32, which I have just over eight months to finish; stories from The 2015 100 that’ve happened but have yet to hit the blog; as well as ongoing relationships with the likes of Swiffer, Netflix and TELUS. And that’s not even taking in consideration that the last few weekends have focused on major family events, whether it’s my younger brother’s wedding; celebrating Halloween with the dozens of toddlers you’ll find in our neighbourhood; or Little Man’s second birthday party, which had to be successful, since he missed out on his first with a case of Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease!
Yeah, things are really ramping up on this side of the screen, and while this week saw less of the #BloggerLife in an up close and personal way, it was still as much in the background as it’s ever been, keeping the wheels turning as I continued the daily hustle!
Let me show you a little of what happens behind the curtain….
Netflix
I’ve only alluded to it ’til now, but it’s official—I’m one of the latest bloggers to join the Netflix Stream Team, a group of bloggers picked to discover everything the service has to offer and share it with our audiences, giving them monthly morsels on programming fit for the entire family!
To welcome me to the team, they sent:
- 1 year of free Netflix;
- An iPad Mini 3 with a Netflix-branded-cover;
- Some microwave popcorn and Twizzlers to nosh on; and
- A Netflix pen to jot notes in a large Moleskine Ruled Reporter Notebook!
As I’m signed up for a one-year commitment, you’ll see plenty from me as I make my way through Netflix’s expansive catalogue, with Master of None, Jessica Jones and Beasts of No Nation as quick favourites! But with Daredevil‘s second season, Luke Cage and—should fate be on my side – Archer‘s seventh season on their way in 2016, you know this was a good move to satisfy my voracious appetite for great entertainment!
Little Man’s Second Birthday
Of course, the biggest event of the week was Little Man’s second birthday party, which was a long time coming after we skipped the first one as mentioned above. With almost 20 family members, friends and their parents over to play, eat and be all sorts of merry, it was great seeing all of Sarah’s plans come together (my role in this area was admittedly minimal), and our little guy (largely) enjoy himself amongst everyone who came to celebrate with him! We were exhausted once everything was done and over with only a handful of hours later, but it was worth it!
Movember
Also, for those out there living under a rock, November 1st marks the start of Movember, a month-long campaign by Mo Bros worldwide (along with some Mo Sistas to stir things up) to raise awareness for illnesses plaguing their brethren by growing some serious ‘staches! I got off to a late start with everything happening at the month’s beginning, but I eventually cleaned my act—and my face up, getting myself ready to blow the rest of this month out of the water!
You’ll see a lot more of my messages through the two weeks to come, but for those of you ahead of the game, if you’re interested in helping me with my $1000 donation goal, you can click the link below to help me in my quest!
Or maybe you know someone else on Team Thomas and want to support the team’s efforts instead of focusing on me alone? Then you can always hook us up by clicking this link instead!
Team Thomas’ Movember 2015 Page
But if you’re in a giving mood, I should let you know—my Movember quest’s only the tip of the iceberg; there’re so many people in the world who could use a helping hand!
Crowdfunding’s brought options to people who previously couldn’t see a way to get their dreams off of the ground, giving like-minded people across the world the ability to give their money directly to causes that have their vested interest.
This in mind, here are a couple of GoFundMe campaigns that’ve recently crossed my radar—even if you don’t donate yourself, please feel free to share them by email or social media; just because they don’t resonate with you doesn’t mean you don’t know people who’d be interested in helping these causes!
The first is a good friend, Lisa Rose, a mother of two with cerebral palsy who’s looking to get a standing frame so she can strengthen her hamstrings enough to continue carrying her children when needed. At the time of writing this, she’s hit 20% of her $3500 goal, and I’d love to see her get all the support she needs to continue being the best Mom she can be!
The second was brought to my attention by a close friend, and involves a woman who’s been through far too many struggles as of late, needing some help to get her family back on track. To give a quick overview of the situation:
- her husband recently lost a 3-year battle with cancer which left the family finances quite thin
- she’s caring for her two autistic adult children in a home that’s falling apart with leaks and bedroom ceilings rife with mould
- I know I’ve seen this with people close to me, but others have preyed on her at a vulnerable time and left contract work unfinished, which led to the house’s current state of disrepair
Now, there are those who have reached out with a helping hard to make things better, including Toronto’s David White Design, but the materials to help her have the safe home she wants cost more than people willing to do the work—donations here go toward the supplies needed to get the job done right.
I don’t know how much of an impact I can make by posting these stories, but I hope they help make something of a difference in time for the Christmas season!
Man—so there you have it; weekly wrap-ups ain’t as easy as I thought! Sure, it helps me roll up the stories of my life in one place, but there’re a lot of stories!
I guess I just never learn my lesson and write words until my hand calls it quits.
I think I’m doing weekly wrap-ups wrong, y’all.
TWEETS OF THE WEEK!!!
I just realized that years from now, I'll be able to show my son a trendline of how many likes status about him got on Facebook.
Freaky.
— Casey E. Palmer (@CaseP) November 3, 2015
Does anyone really tweet anymore? Are we still conversing on the platform or are we just using it to advertise? The convos are elsewhere.
— Casey E. Palmer (@CaseP) November 5, 2015
Thanks for surviving The Week That Was and until the next,
–case p.
