I was contacted by a lovely woman by the name of Jane Pratt the other day in regard to her recently published book, Turtle on a Fence Post.  I wanted to take a moment here in my blog to mention this fantastic guide for teens about to embark on adulthood and their parents who are letting them spread their wings.  Please see their media release below and click on the book cover preview to be taken directly to their website. 

Life-after-grad manual teaches life skills, career tips, and spiritual insights.

Gift will appeal to high school grads looking for concise, once-a-day guidance about life in the ‘real world’.

(Vancouver, BC) – Every parent hopes they have adequately prepared their children for life after high school. But what if you, as a parent, won’t be nearby to provide guidance when they move out? What simple graduation gift is there to help these grads who will be adults in body, but not in life experience?

Jim and Jane Pratt have just created the answer to these concerns. They’ve written Turtle on a Fence Post: 365 Days of Life Lessons, Wisdom Graduates Need to Make It in the Real World, just released by Agio Publishing in Victoria.

“We believe Turtle on a Fence Post is an ideal gift of wisdom and inspiration for the graduate,” says author Jim Pratt, who is CEO of Sepps Foods in his ‘day job’ and full-time father of three active high-schoolers. “Jane and I wrote it to help our children navigate the complicated ‘real world’ they’ll face after graduation.”

There are 365 days of lessons, Jane Pratt explains, because it is important to learn something new every day. Each lesson is short, so it can be read quickly over breakfast or during a break. Monday’s messages are motivational; Tuesday and Wednesday are hints for advancing careers. Thursday and Friday are general life lessons. Saturday is for social aspects, while Sunday’s spiritual guidance comes from many religions and teachers.

Turtle on a Fence Post will be available initially only through parent committees, who will sell copies to parents and relatives of grads, as a fundraiser for dry grad parties and other events. Jane Pratt will be drawing on her areawide contacts, from her work with Canadian Parents for French, Beta Sigma Phi (she was chapter president of both) and other volunteer organizations.

This gift-quality, hardcover book comes with strong endorsements by luminaries such as Dr. Jacqueline Shan, co-inventor of Cold-FX™, Canaccord Capital exec John Rothwell, Globe and Mail reporter Brent Jang and Canadian pro beach volleyballer Rich Van Huizen. Van Huizen said, “This great book provides just what is needed – a unique dynamic of spiritual and social lessons – the key that separates those who succeed from those who fail.”

Turtle on a Fence Post: 365 Days of Life Lessons, Wisdom Graduates Need to
Make It in the Real World by Jim & Jane Pratt. ISBN 978-1-897435-31-1, published by Agio Publishing, Victoria, 2009, 188 pp, clothbound with jacket, $36.00

I’m really not good at getting into blogging mode.  I don’t know what to write, life gets busy and then I forget about it.   And I love writing…and talking.  But this just sitting down and blogging, it’s hard!

I know I’ve said it before but I want to make sure that everyone on my forum knows how happy I am that they come and spend time on the site.  It means a lot to know that each day you check and see how everyone is doing and spend a little time visiting.  It really is what it’s all about and I don’t want to ever take that for granted - your time means so much to me.  The friendships have grown over time and I enjoy going for dinner with you all when we can.  The playdates and parties for the kids are always nice too. 

I think Deanna deserves an extra thanks for all the work she’s done on the site, as well, right from the begining of the transition.  Without her, I’d have probably given up long ago. 

This is now the part of the blog where I drop out ungracefully because I don’t know how to wind it up neatly…I hear the Strawberry Twizzlers calling me (really, they are…) as there are a few pieces left that I haven’t eaten yet so I’d better run.

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I finally remembered I have a blog. But I did not remember my user name and password as it’s been so long. I spent a lot of time trying to log in. I finally figured the obscure things out and then changed them to my usual so I will remember them for next time.

And that is all I have to say tonight.

lol…I’m so not good at this blogging thing! I can never remember it and if I wasn’t actually beckoned to my Facebook page earlier, I’d have forgotten about this blog of mine even longer.

Oh, pooh! I keep forgetting I have this blog thing going on…lol. Things are slowly but surely progressing with the site but as usual, the instant gratification girl in me is impatient and wishes there was a good, strong, solid climb already happening. Patience is not a virtue of mine…lol.

It’s late and it’s time for bed…It’s Nicholas first Sport’s Day in elementary school and Alex’s third and it’s going to be a long day for poor Raisie.

And I’m going to make a pointed effort to remember this blog of mine from here on out.

Kristen

Wow, I can’t believe how fast this month as flown by. After a temporary closure, we are back up and running with a new look, new format and a whole new way of doing business. Now my customers can list their own children’s clothing, toys, furniture, and accessories all on their own, if they so desire rather than going the original consignment route with me. Though I still welcome the opportunity to provide consignment services.

To celebrate the kick off, I’ve partnered with Lara at westcoastmoms.ca to offer a prize to one lucky winner.

It has been a very hard and rough start to the year. Our friend whom I mentioned in the previous post (the fish tank guy :)), passed away on January 14th. We got a call that things didn’t look good and we were in the car and off and racing. After a seven hour drive, we got the call about an hour outside of town that he was gone. My heart just broke. The world lost an amazing man that day. It still doesn’t seem ‘real’ yet and I’m not sure if it ever will. But I look at the fish tank and laugh because his ‘relaxing’ hobby that wasn’t so relaxing at all, is now my ‘relaxing’ hobby…sigh…lol. A few hours after he passed, my step-Dad’s father died and then three of my husband’s relatives. It’s been a sad time around here. But we are looking forward to some positives to come.

The first of which is that my neice-in-law got the call for her double lung transplant and at day 6 (well, 7 but I haven’t got the update yet), she was sitting up and eating and starting on the mend. It’ll be a long recovery but this was the miracle we’ve been waiting for!

The kids are doing well and looks like my older two are going to join the running club for the month of April at school. Looks like I get to do my part, initialing kids’ books as they run by. Should be chaotic but fun!

Well, I’m not good at this blogging so I’m going to sign off for now.

Talk to you all later,
Kristen

I think things are finally starting to happen here and I’ve opened my ’store’ to the public now with a little less in it than I’d planned but it will come. I’m still pretty uneasy about it because I’m a perfectionist and as I’m still learning about websites and shopping carts and everything in between, I’m finding it quite intimidating.

It was to open last night. I’d sent out my newsletter to those on my mailing list in the morning that it would ‘open’ later that night. And I can tell from the counter on my website that many looked and found the virtual doors still closed after all that work of redesigning the store after many years. Last night, as things seem to be, things didn’t go as planned. I had my whole evening laid out and as I was sitting down to make it happen, I got a phone call that I just couldn’t say no to. I was aggitated and kind of put out at first until it donned on me that the store could wait another day or two and it wouldn’t be the end of the world because here, in my own home, we were making a memory for four people that mean the world to me and I relaxed. It’s not to say that I’m not a little perturbed that things didn’t go the way I wanted them to but I can accept it and deal with it.

What happened is the boys’ god-father had talked about giving them his huge fish tank the other day. I casually said, ‘Sure, why not?’ Little did I know that as soon as I agreed, it was a plan in motion that took a life of it’s own. So I got a call saying to get the house ready last night about dinner time because we were getting some fishies. Now I know some of you are going, “She put this off for fish?!” Yeah, I did…lol. And here’s why…That god-father of theirs has been battling cancer for 10 months now and when he wants to do something, I don’t care what it is, I drop everything for him because we have no idea where the chips are going to fall still after all this time. So much hope yet so much lies in the balance. It makes me crazy when I think about it. I’ve dealt with so much illness, dying and death in my life that I know that every day has to count so darn it, if he wants to give my kids his fish tank as a gift and spend hours teaching them (well, me…lol) how to care for them, I do it. So despite not opening my store as planned, I have one person happy to give some fish and three little boys happy to get some fish. And in turn, I’m happy watching them all make a little memory.

But it’s open now. Not all the items are visible yet but they’ll come as the week wears on. I’m not sure I’m comfortable with it yet. I know clothes. I know pricing. I know shipping. What I don’t know is how this Mals cart is going to work and I have this vision of ‘Hotel California’ - you know the line…”You can check out any time you like but you can never leave.” as my cart malfunctions (even after a billion test runs) and you are left with things in your basket but you can’t pay for them or whatever ever other glitches that can happen with an online store.

Excuse me but the boys are rifling the grocery bags in search of pudding and I should go put the stuff away as it’s close to dinner time.

Thank you again for your patience and understanding of why I didn’t open the store yesterday. Sometimes, you have to let the most important people in life take precedence and last night was one of those nights.

Kristen

PS. I thought I’d share a sweet little moment that my five year old and I had this morning (excuse his run on sentence but he’s just starting Kindergarten on Tuesday…lol) and this is when I remember that I really do like being a Mom despite the days that challenge every inch of my sanity.

Nicholas just came up to me in the kitchen while I was making them breakfast and he spied the hot chocolate mix on the counter and says to me:

“Mom, remember when I was small and we made a snowman last year when it snowed and we were freezing cold and you brought us in and then you made us hot chocolate to drink when we were wrapped in your housecoats? I liked that. Thank you. Can we do it again when it snows?”

You bet we can…sigh. I love Nicholas. He always remembers the good stuff.