Casey Evertove Palmer

Sometimes, my children surprise me.⁣ ⁣ ***⁣ ⁣ My kids started March Break with a trip to their grandparents, leaving us unsure WHEN they'd be back because we left their return date up to THEM. And things got easier—we could both go to the OFFICE, go out to dinner, or take beachside walks till WELL after their bedtime. They were a good few days, but our boys eventually decided to come BACK, leaving a day in the schedule where we had nothing PLANNED.⁣ ⁣ And that was a problem—I'd seen how much it affects my kids' behaviour and WELL-BEING when left on screens all day, so we break their days up with all sorts of activities.⁣ ⁣ Which made it AMAZING when @agotoronto reached out for us to visit them this March Break for their kid-friendly activities to keep littles occupied:⁣ ⁣ * An activity book engaging their imaginations, including a KAWS:FAMILY scavenger hunt that had them searching MULTIPLE galleries for little KAWS figurines⁣ ⁣ * Interactive activities like papercraft in the Community Gallery and Art Carts spread throughout the gallery, offering activities like creating keychains from Crayola Model Magic clay⁣ ⁣ *And while we didn't indulge, kid-friendly animated films and an afternoon sing-along party in Walker Court for those needing more ACTIVITY.⁣ ⁣ And you know what? My kids LOVED it. My Roblox-addicted screen-obsessed near-tween kids who SCOFF at the idea of separation from their devices just dug in and CREATED, spending blocks of time on it by CHOICE instead of anyone TELLING them to do it.⁣ ⁣ And that's what I'm learning—the kids are old enough that I need to give them AGENCY and sometimes let THEM lead how activities go. At 10 and 8, they spend SO MUCH TIME being told what to do that sometimes doing things on THEIR terms isn't BAD.⁣ ⁣ My takeaway? Sometimes, it's good to operate without a solid plan. The pandemic taught me that my kids are little people with individual LIVES on their own, and I must make choices that show I UNDERSTAND that.⁣ ⁣ Thank you, @agotoronto, for contributing to a great day!⁣ ⁣ —case p.⁣ ⁣ #gifted #SeeAGO #FamilyFun #MarchBreakAdventures #CreativeKids #GrandparentsLove #ParentingWin #NoScreensAllowed #QualityTime #ArtfulParentin

So it's February, and if you're Black, you know what THAT means—we're in the midst of what's probably the busiest four weeks that we go through all YEAR. I'm already a busy person in GENERAL, but Black History Month is FILLED with speaking engagements, events to emcee, and everything under the sun to celebrate Black history as richly and HONESTLY in as many places as POSSIBLE. And though I've been pretty silent on social media while I help lead our branch of 400+ people (more on that later), I've been working on something pretty special that'll be happening this coming weekend—Black Heritage Sunday at the Church of the Resurrection, Toronto, where we'll celebrate Black History Month with a service that explores MULTIPLE elements of Black history and experience! What makes this service special is that while as Black people we're statistically underrepresented in the world around us (@ 4.2% of the Canadian population and 9.6% of Toronto), this service combines the inputs of multiple racialized members of our congregation to bring together an experience that we think will be TRULY memorable! If you're looking to join, the details are on the flyer attached, and I'll add the link to Sunday's live stream in my stories! Come ready to open your eyes to something new! #BlackHistoryMonth #BlackHeritageSunday #CelebratingBlackHistory #TorontoEvents #CommunityEngagement #DiversityInFaith #ChurchEvent #BlackExperience #RepresentationMatters #TorontoChurch #BlackLeadership #CulturalCelebration #UnityInDiversity #SocialJustice #CanadianBlackHistory #Empowerment #Inclusion #ChurchService #TorontoCommunity #LiveStream #RacialJustice #christianity #jesus #christian #bible #god #faith #jesuschrist #christ #gospel

Good evening, everyone, and happy New Year! (we can still say that this week, right?) It's been a good while since I've been able to focus on creating, diving deep into my role as the senior manager of a team of 45 at work and stepping up in everything needed from me to support the things that my family needs, but when I wasn't CREATING, I was definitely THINKING, and one of the things I wanted to do in 2024 was take all of the odds and ends that fill my life mentally, physically and digitally, and start creating things that help declutter my world around me. One approach is taking my love for data and using it to make sense of all the information around me. Today, I used Google Sheets and a little bit of code to start dreaming up a guide to summer camps in the Toronto area and what a flexible tool to help parents find the right one could look like. It's still in its early days, but as I teach myself Python, I hope to add more functionality to it... but all in due time. In any case, now that our kids are old enough to want summer camps tailored to their interests instead of programs matched to their ages, I understand the stress of navigating the summer camp world, so hopefully this proves useful to you, too! Thanks, and I hope you're all doing well! —case #summercamp #summer #camp #fun #kids #summerfun #education #kidscamp #kidsactivities #summercamps #daycamp #parentlife #parenting #parenthood #momlife #dadlife #motherhood #fatherhood #parents #family #parentingtips #parentinglife #parentproblems #lifewithkids #planning

It's that time again! *** If you missed me on CBC Radio in September when we talked about dads stepping up as the lead parents in their children's lives, we're doing another run this evening on the parent-teacher relationship and why it's so important to be dialled in to what's going on in your kids' school lives! Feel free to check it out on the way home! —case #BackToSchool #DadsInAction #Parenting #Interview #Canada #ParentingRoles #FamilyLife #DadLife #ParentingJourney #ParentingTalk #CanadianDads #radio #morningshow

And then... ten. *** It's been a week since it happened, but we had the blessing of helping our eldest ring in the world of double-digit living, a decade into our journey as parents without any idea where the time went. At a point in his life where more of the world is open to him than ever, it's incredible to see him make his way through his life! However, we constantly need to remember that he IS still a child, and need to straddle the line between encouragement and discipline to get him where he needs to go. That said, there's so much he's learned in such a little time, and so much he's getting involved in! Swimming competitions at the city-wide level. A community production of The Lion King. He's picked up journalling in a planner of his own and can even cook up a meal when he feels up to the task. He shows a heckuva lot of promise, but it only gets more complicated from here—we hope he'll let us help him every step of the way! We hope you've enjoyed your birthday season, kiddo—here's to many more to come! —daddy (and mommy.) #bday #birthday #happybirthday #love #happy #family #photooftheday #celebrate #instabirthday #celebration #instabday #happybday #son #father #dad #boy #kids #cute #smile #familytime #myson #myboy #dadlife #fatherhood #parentlife #dadlife #parenting #dadsofinstagram #daddy #blackfatherhood

Okay—so a lot's been going on over on this side of the screen, and I haven't always had the time or the capacity to SHARE about it. As we hurtle toward the year's end (with no one having any idea of how it's November ALREADY), I find myself more reflective than EVER, looking at all the loose ends around me and trying to figure out how I'll tie them all UP. I'm nearly six months into my second management gig as the senior manager of MCCSS' Financial Services Unit, helping my team of 45 serve our clients who intersect with social assistance and sponsorship programs. I had to do PLENTY of learning, being completely new to social assistance, and while I'm by no means an EXPERT on it now, I know ENOUGH to start building a space for all of us to THRIVE. And now that I'm more at EASE with this role, it's given me the mental space to start dabbling with OTHER ideas, like gathering the inspiration for DRAWING and thinking up new datasets to map out in infographics. I'm iteratively finishing up so many thoughts I'd left half-written for months—sometimes YEARS—and trying to add as many tools as possible to experiment with to figure out the most authentic form of expression available. While working a job where the time's invested more in its RELATIONSHIPS and CULTIVATING future leaders than it is on briefings and approvals, and the energy needed to maintain those very human connections is a lot, it actually makes me HAPPY, and I'm seeing that reflect in OTHER parts of my life 😊 Long story short, as much as I'd like to be here every day regaling everyone with anecdotes from life as I work the job, come up with new ideas, parent the kids, and—for the last few weeks, anyway—spend HOURS a day washing dishes until our new dishwasher comes in, the reality is that all this stuff takes TIME, and sometimes I just can't GET to the content. But as you can CLEARLY see, I'm going to keep TRYING, because I'm well aware that I still have SO MANY STORIES to tell. Maybe I'll finally figure out how to do it! Until the next, I remain, —case p. #introspection #meditation #love #selflove #inspiration #life #personaldevelopment #reflection #mindfulness #selfcare #motivation #mindset #gra

Adventures in Journalling *** Hi, everyone! It's been a bit since I've shared my weekly journals, but I SWEAR it's for a good reason—I've been experimenting with what's POSSIBLE with my journalling, inspired by a recent dive down a @domestika rabbit hole! *** I didn't know it then, but creating a template to look at three aspects of my life was the FIRST step in figuring out how I wanted to express myself through my journals. Art's always been part of me—I actually WANTED to go to art school after high school, but my parents—WISELY—said "no". They wanted me to have a career where I could be independent and raise a family on my own, and "starving artist" wasn't likely to cut it. That decision was one I struggled with for a VERY long time, only recently starting to understand what I was missing that scored me a 52% in Grade 13 Art—that even though I may have the TECHNICAL ability to convey an idea visually, does it really mean anything if it doesn't elicit FEELING in the viewer? And that's what I saw—@dutch_dots, who brings watercolours and bullet journals together to create a medium that's aesthetically awe-inspiring AND effective at organizing time. Or @chapmangamo, who uses acrylic paint markers to bring the things he sees into a vibrant new reality. Artists like these are reshaping how I THINK about journalling, and I'll keep working to elevate the craft as much as I can! It'll be a process, and it may take tons of TIME, but nothing that's WORTH it happens OVERNIGHT. In the meantime, the journals continue as I experiment with sticker-making and more, and I'm looking forward to seeing what's possible! I hope you're all doing fantastic, and until the next, I remain, —case #planner #planneraddict #plannercommunity #plannerlove #planning #plannerstickers #plannerlife #journal #stickers #stationery #plannernerd #journaling #happyplanner #planwithme #plannerobsessed #plannerspread #agenda #weeklyspread #plannerjunkie #notebook #planners #art #plannerinspiration #plannergoodies #lettering #plannersupplies #stationeryaddict #thehappyplanner #planningcommunity #stickeraddict @domestika_en

Halloween this year was a WHIRLWIND.   ***   It’d been almost a decade since I took Halloween ANYWHERE near seriously and put on a costume myself. Still, this year, the enthusiasm of my team finally got me THINKING of costumes again, and a recently renewed interest in my Cricut Maker gave me the means to DO it.   But a fox mask was one thing – you cut out the shapes, paste them together, add some elastic string and call it a day. The dragon head was an entire PROJECT, needing 17 sheets of cardstock that all needed to be scored, cut and numbered so I’d know which piece connected where; then maybe forty pieces that needed folding into the shapes that’d BECOME the head, and then a good few hours more of glueing to bring it TOGETHER.   Probably something I should’ve started well before the day before Halloween, right?   Ultimately, I wound up with a fun new mask that takes up a good chunk of my desk space but helps me appreciate more of what I’m capable of. I needed a LONG sleep after staying up late to finish it, but I'm happy with how it turned out! "But Casey," you ask, "What about the KIDS' Halloweens???" Well—of course, they made the most of Halloween, too, with Uzumaki Naruto and Miles Morales Spider-Man cleaning up SHOP for a couple of hours as they and their friends tore a strip throughout town! I had to give them a dose of reality the following day as they were about to fight over who had more Pokémon cards after getting FOUR BAGS of candy EACH, but all had a Happy Halloween! I hope you all had excellent Halloweens, too, and with that update done, more stories on the way! Until the next, I remain, —case @cricut_ca @cricut @cricutcrafterscanada #cricutcanada #cricutcrafterscanada #halloween #halloweencostume #spookyseason #october #happyhalloween #trickortreat #costume #handmade #instagood #halloweencostume #cute #design #crafting #craft #crafts #diy #crafty #creative #papercraft #craftersofinstagram #papercrafting #handmadewithlove #crafter #papercrafts #cricut #handcrafted #diycrafts #homemade

Back in February 2020, I felt like I didn't have any stories worth sharing. It took all those months stuck in my basement office to shift that thinking and give me the OPPOSITE problem—all these stories without the time to share them! But life's more complicated. It's harder to parent; our kids want their own lives, but struggle to navigate the ever-changing social landscape around them. Work isn't as FRENETIC as it was before, but with a 45-person team, there's a weight of a DIFFERENT kind as the well-being of several dozen people is directly linked to the decisions I make and actions I take. And let's not even talk friendships—a post from @dothedaniel really hit home how many of my friendships fell to the wayside over the pandemic, sometimes from my inaction as I struggled through my darkness, and sometimes inaction from others as they too went through it, and wouldn't text or message back even after several tries. COVID BROKE us, and I think it'll still take some time yet before we can ever DREAM of feeling whole again. Add all the other things on my plate—a financial course, more than a dozen mentees, a home to keep in order and marriage to keep thriving—with all of it, you start to see why I struggle to find time for "me" amidst it all. But life has shown me that despite all the struggle, it's important that I still find the time to DO things for myself and not put that expectation on anyone else. We all have our own issues going on; my priorities are mine alone and it's important that I keep them in mind. So where do we go from here? Getting back to telling stories. Creating at a pace that makes me happy. It gets harder to make it work the older I get, but the things you give up for the sake of everyone else can be hard to get BACK, so you can expect some fun anecdotes from me yet! We'll catch you at the next post! —case #introspection #meditation #love #selflove #inspiration #life #personaldevelopment #reflection #mindfulness #selfcare #motivation #mindset #gratitude #positivevibes #selfawareness #awareness #growth #intuition #mentalhealth #wisdom #thoughts

What DOES the fox say? *** This past Thursday, one of my teams rang in the Halloween season with a Spooky Thursday, where they could dress up in costumes, have some fun, and enjoy some treats to take a break from the busy workloads they face every day. It's been some years since I bothered dressing up for Halloween, but I felt inspired by my team's spirit, and with a recently-renewed love for my Cricut Maker, I soon found myself making a fox mask so I could run around singing to Ylvis' "The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?)" all day long 😂 The mask was smaller than I needed—a rookie mistake for a first try, I'll admit—but I had a lot of fun with it and look forward to the costume I'm putting together for Halloween PROPER tomorrow! I hope your spooky seasons are going well, and that you find the opportunity to treat your inner children from time to time! Until the next, —case @bylvisaker @vegardino @cricut_ca @cricut @cricutcrafterscanada #cricutcanada #cricutcrafterscanada #halloween #halloweencostume #spookyseason #october #happyhalloween #trickortreat #costume #handmade #instagood #halloweencostume #cute #design #crafting #craft #crafts #diy #crafty #creative #papercraft #craftersofinstagram #papercrafting #handmadewithlove #crafter #papercrafts #cricut #handcrafted #diycrafts #homemade

It's been a while since I've been able to sit down and map out my weeks, too swamped by everything needed at the office and the chaos of running back and forth to wherever the family needs me at any given moment to sit down and gather my thoughts. But through it all, I kept taking notes and eventually moulded them into stories I could include in my layouts. But the more I write, the more I find that my days don't fit as CLEANLY into this three-category structure as I thought they would. Sometimes, a lot happens in one part of my life and not so much in others; one box isn't enough to contain it. Or maybe I need to learn the art of BREVITY and how to find the more IMPORTANT parts of my life instead of reporting on every little thing. In any case, it feels good to get back to storytelling, no matter what form it takes, and I look forward to sharing it with all of you again! There's never a dull moment for the Palmer fam, so expect many more of these to come! See you at the next post! —case #planner #planneraddict #plannercommunity #plannerlove #planning #plannerstickers #plannerlife #journal #stickers #stationery #plannernerd #journaling #happyplanner #planwithme #plannerobsessed #plannerspread #agenda #weeklyspread #plannerjunkie #notebook #planners #art #plannerinspiration #plannergoodies #lettering #plannersupplies #stationeryaddict #thehappyplanner #planningcommunity #stickeraddict

Social media is a vast digital space, and to be a successful content creator, you learn from early on the importance of packaging your message JUST right because communication is EVERYTHING, and you try so hard not to mess it up. But the more you create—and I've been at this long enough that it's happened SEVERAL times over the years—something hits your blind spot, and you end up doing something you never intended. If you saw my post from yesterday, you'll know that I put out my weekly journal spread after much deliberation, thinking hard about the Israel-Gaza conflict and how it impacted all the people caught in the middle, like my Israeli and Palestinian friends and many of the people they care about. I wanted to ensure my intentions translated correctly with such a sensitive topic, but the feedback I received from many told me that others understood where I was coming from. Except... there was something I missed. The post was fine on most platforms, but on Instagram, I've started playing with the ability to add music to posts, and with the post leading to the decision to keep posting my weekly journals and sharing my insights from a better-planned life, I thought "The New Workout Plan" would be a good fit to match how I felt about this new path I've been travelling. "The New Workout Plan." By Kanye West. Who's become NOTORIOUS for making anti-Semitic statements. In a post concerning Israel. NOT my brightest moment. But as someone who leads others whom I often hold to account for mistakes with the hopes they'll learn from them, I expect to be held to the same standard, too, so when a friend reached out to point out the blunder I made, I knew I couldn't just pretend it hadn't happened and move on—it was a lesson to pay attention to the ENTIRE picture—being on top of my words and images alone wouldn't CUT IT anymore. So, I'm sorry if my blunder put anyone off; I didn't intend to warp my message with my poor song choice. You can believe it's something I'll pay CAREFUL attention to in the future! Thanks as always for your support, and I'll see you in the next post! —case #apologies #sorry #forgiveness #apology #mistake #mistakes

I'm struggling with how I feel about posting when the wound of the Israel-Gaza conflict is so fresh on the global scene. I'm neither Israeli nor Palestinian, but I have friends who ARE. While the world's arguing over who's right or wrong in the midst of it all, I'm more sad for everyone who's caught up in the middle and wants the same thing that everyone else does—somewhere they can call home and feel safe every day instead of worrying that each morning they wake up may very well be their last. In the face of this conflict, anything I have to post feels so... inconsequential. I'm not well-versed enough in Israeli or Palestinian history to have an informal opinion. Still, the pain and the hurt that come from this war aren't things I take for granted, and I don't want to post anything that's too FLIPPANT in the face of this war out of RESPECT. That said, the world won't stop revolving REGARDLESS of how horrible we treat one another, and even when we don't feel like it's the right time to do the things we usually do, no one else will do them FOR us. So, after some time spent thinking about what I wanted to put out into the world, I put the finishing touches on last week's journal and decided to share it with the world. It taught me that not every week will have a story to tell, but we still need to live it. Week 40 had me dig deep to cover every last bit of the page, finding stickers that'd help me express myself. Week 41 will be a bit more mindful... but for now, this is me. I hope you're all keeping well out there—let's not take what we have for granted. You never know how long you'll have it. Until the next post, —case #planner #planneraddict #plannercommunity #plannerlove #planning #plannerstickers #plannerlife #journal #stickers #stationery #plannernerd #journaling #happyplanner #planwithme #plannerobsessed #plannerspread #agenda #weeklyspread #plannerjunkie #notebook #planners #art #plannerinspiration #plannergoodies #lettering #plannersupplies #stationeryaddict #thehappyplanner #planningcommunity #stickeraddict

It's Thanksgiving weekend, and we've had the great opportunity to spend some time at my parents' place, a few hours away. It's been great to catch up and celebrate so many of the insights we've all gleaned now that we're out living our adult lives, but whenever I spend time with the fam, it has me reflect on the things I'm thankful for and what's been shaping my life as of late: * A BALANCED LIFE that lets me lead a team of 40 as the Senior Manager of the Financial Services Unit in the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services' Social Assistance Central Services Branch; be there for my kids a quick twenty-minute commute away; and find time here and there to work on my CREATIVE pursuits for the first time in a while. It means I can't go AS hard in any area as many of my peers do, but I'm doing enough to feel like I'm doing the right things with my time. * MAKING MY HEALTH MORE OF A PRIORITY, especially after finding out last December that I was edging towards diabetes and high blood pressure if I didn't change my ways, and after months of dietary changes, exercise and making adjustments to my lifestyle, I'm happy to report that my blood pressure's gone on the way back to normal at a 129/89 with 71 heartbeats per minute, which means I can avoid going on blood pressure medication and continue living my life! I'm feeling better these days than I can ever remember and encouraged to keep on the path I've set out for myself! * AND, LIVING IN A CITY WHERE EVERYTHING I NEED IS AROUND ME, and I can bike to my doctor, walk to most friends, and most events are a short subway ride away. The older I get, the more I appreciate how valuable TIME is, and I look for every opportunity in my day to find a few additional seconds for myself. I hope you've all had a fabulous Thanksgiving, and we'll see you at the next post! —case #thanksgiving #thankful #love #fall #family #turkey #thanksgivingdinner #grateful #happythanksgiving #food #holiday #turkeyday #thanks #blessed #holidays #instagood #gratitude #autumn #givethanks #foodporn #thanksgivingday #thankyou #happythanksgivng #photooftheday #foodie #ThanksgivingWeekend #FamilyTime #Gratitude #Reflections #Ontario

I don't know about Y'ALL, but whenever my creativity's flowing, and I'm getting into something INTERESTING, my kids want to get in on it, TOO. Only a few weeks into tracking my life seven days at a time, it reminded my boys that when we were shopping for Happy Planner stickers this summer, I said they could eventually have planners of their OWN. With the school year in full swing, there's no time to make it happen like the present. With the budget cuts our school board's seen in post-pandemic recovery, agendas have become a thing of the past, so what better way to introduce my kids to the world of planning than to give them books they could use to keep track of their school days? It took some learning—the templates I'd bought from PrintAPlanShop and @ShawnnaRennae on @Etsy had me wondering how I'd make my own. Soon enough, I found myself drawing up templates in @Microsoft Word and making them fillable in @AdobeAcrobat to create something I could use repeatedly. I needed templates that were the right fit—daily pages broken down by period for my fifth grader, weekly pages for my second grader, and monthly pages for them both. I didn't have time to make them custom covers just yet, but I've been practising with the Scotch Thermal Laminator I recently got off of Amazon so I'll be ready for the day when it comes. Ultimately? It's just good to know that I'm doing right by my kids and providing tools that'll set them up for success. There's still plenty of trial and error ahead to make sure we get everything where it needs to be, but in the meantime, I'll continue to test and challenge them both to see just what the #PlannerLife looks like for them 😊 Thanks for reading, and I'll see you at the next post! —case #CreativityFlow #ParentingWin #HappyPlanner #DIYPlanners #PlanningForSuccess #SchoolAgendas #ParentingJourney #LifeOrganization #SchoolDays #ParentingTips #CreativeLearning #ParentingGoals #TimeManagement #SchoolYearSuccess #FamilyOrganization #Grade5 #Grade2 #parenthood #parentlife #lifestyleblogger #lifestyleinfluencer #blackblogger #microinfluencer #contentcreators #tdotbloggers #yyzblogger #torontoinfluencer #canadianinfluencer #dadlife