Remembering Charles

Attended the funeral of my cousin Charles a little while ago. While it is sad to lose someone so young (he was only 51, same age as my own brother) and so suddenly, never-the-less, while I listened to what other people said about him and the things I remembered from the times we spent and the conversations we had, all I could think was, "He really lived."

Charles was a scholar, an outdoorsman, an environmentalist, a wonderful photographer, a world traveler, a poet, a beloved son and brother and uncle... and... so much more. Really, isn't that how we all would like to be known? As someone who took life and lived every minute of it. I know I would. Our world is richer for his having been in it and we are richer for having known him.

Veechnaya Pamyat - Eternal Memories, Charles. Thanks for enriching my life.

On Family

This past weekend in Alberta, we celebrated a unique holiday - Family Day. While every day should be 'family day', too often in our busy lives, we forget those who should mean the most to us - our families. I had the unique opportunity to share some wonderful family time and it made me appreciate just how much of a gift they can be in our lives.

We celebrated my father's 80th birthday this weekend - and it was all the more special because of the difficult year he has had this year with his health. But his sparkling wit and ready smile are back and was nice to again be able to share a meal and some laughs and even a few memories as we made a few new ones. Thank you Dad (and Mom!) for always being there for me and especially for teaching me the strength of family.

Enjoyed a different group of family the following day. It was a bit of a bittersweet get-together as we all joined to wish my cousin's son farewell as he left for his military posting in Afghanistan. Graham is just a little younger than my own son and it's difficult to reconcile this 'mostly' serious young man with the boy I remember from not long ago. I've watched him grow and turn into a young man whom I am proud to know. Good luck Graham, keep safe, and come home to us soon.

As my own family grow and moves on with their lives, we find less time to get together - but there will always be a home for them in my heart. I'd like to leave them, and you, with some words of wisdom from a very smart bear: "If ever there is tomorrow when we're not together.. there is something you must always remember. You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. But the most important thing is, even if we're apart.. I'll always be with you." Winnie the Pooh (A. A. Milne)

Comfort Food

I've been ill over the past few days with a rather nasty infection and spent a lot of time in bed. When I finally felt up to it, made myself a big pot of chicken soup in the crockpot. Now I don't know about you, but for me, homemade chicken soup is a definite comfort food. Guess it goes back to my childhood growing up on the farm and there being fresh chicken soup every day. Even better, in the summer, made with freshly picked vegetables. All lovingly made with my Baba's (grandmother's) hand.
(The picture is me in front my my Baba and Gido's farmhouse with my first car.)

Maybe that's what makes comfort food so special to us. It isn't the food itself, but the memories it invokes. Memories of our childhood, of being cared for, of being safe and protected. For some of us, perhaps it invokes memories of a special person in our lives who perhaps now is gone. It is well known that odour is a very powerful memory stimulant, so perhaps during the preparation, those odours invoke those special memories and feelings.

I would leave you with the recipe for chicken soup, but heaven knows, Baba never used a recipe for that. She had a few things she used a recipe for and one that all of us grandchildren loved was Sour Cream Chocolate Cake (only she usually make cupcakes out of it!)

Sour Cream Chocolate Cake

1 ½ cup sugar
3 eggs
1 ½ cup sour cream
¾ tsp salt
2 ¼ cup flour
¾ cup cocoa
1 ½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda dissolved in
¾ cup hot water
1 ½ tsp vanilla

Mix well and turn into a greased pan. Bake at 325 F about 40 minutes or until toothpick in center of cake comes out clean. Alternatively, fill greased muffin tins 2/3 full and bake for about 25 to 30 minutes.

Enjoy! This recipe and more are the basis for Muffins and Megabytes our newest web initiative. How about sending me your favourite recipe?

I leave you with this wonderful quote from Robert Redford about another great comfort food: “Health food may be good for the conscience but Oreos taste a hell of a lot better."

On Getting Older...

Thought I’d managed to get away with it, but no, too many people reminding me that it’s my birthday. There’s all that ‘twaddle’ that says, “Don’t feel bad about growing older, it’s a privilege denied to many.” and “Youth is wasted on the young.” but frankly when you get up and the bones creak and various parts don’t work quite as well as they once did – it just sucks!

I could think of it like my good friend Bob does – as my Personal New Year – and that’s a kind of cool idea, but that requires a little thought re-wiring. Frankly, re-wiring old structures has always seems a bit of a risky proposition to me. Never know what sort of a mess you might run into when you expose the foundation!

But, to tell the truth though, I can’t think of any other age I’d rather be right now – cause then I’d have to give back all this hard-won knowledge and experience! Wouldn’t want to be 16 – no way – too much going on, too many life decisions to make, too many hormones! Wouldn’t want to be 21 – with all that worry – will I get a job, should I get married, should I have kids? And as much as I love my kids, wouldn’t want to be any age with small kids or, heaven forbid, teenagers – because it was just way too tough, especially as a single mom. I wouldn’t give back any of those times, but neither would I want to relive them!

So, I guess that leaves me here – and to tell the truth, it’s a pretty good here. I have two wonderful children who mean the world to me. I have wonderful, special friends and a few close family who enrich my life and occasionally give me that ‘kick in the butt’ when I need it! I still have both my parents who constantly remind me of who I am and what is important. I have a career that I love and a new business that excites me.

I guess that is what a personal new year is about – you take stock of your life, find the good, resolve to work on the ‘not as good as I would like’ and move forward.

Robert Browning has always said it best: “Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be, the last of life, for which the first was made. Our times are in his hand who saith, 'A whole I planned, youth shows but half; Trust God: See all, nor be afraid!'”

Time to take my own advice!

One of the things I have told my web design clients is that to get your site talked about and indexed, get out there and get involved online. Post articles, talk in forums, become the expert, and above all, start your own blog. Most of us keep making excuses why we can't do something, but I figure it's time to put my money where my mouth is.

Web design is a relatively new part of my life. I've been online forever, with my career in science research, it's pretty much always been a part of the way things are done. As I've seen the pages and sites evolve, it got my scientific and creative minds together to discover how much of this I could learn and create for myself and subsequently, for others.

What began as a way to help out my friend Bob fix up his site has turned into a part-time business creating new sites like Secret Selling Tips and, most recently, The Prosperous Farmer. I've also helped others, like Jeff with his investigations business, update what is otherwise a really nice site. Each design, each success has taught me something new and I believe that is the most important thing.

One of the most important attributes of a vibrant personality is their ability to keep growing, to keep learning, to never take for granted the store of knowledge that is available to them. This is the true power of the web. We can access the knowledge of millions of minds - brilliant, average, and otherwise - but it is there for us to learn from. Then, finally, we too can share our 'wisdom', such as it is.

So, that is my bit of wisdom for this time around. Keep learning. Keep thinking. Keep questioning. But above all, Have fun!

Irene (aka Vitrak)