Tonight, I’ve been having flashbacks to this night in 1999 and am boggled by how much life I’ve been able to squeeze into those years. I was a university student then, living in a ‘charming’ studio apartment in Ottawa. Little did I know that by that night a year later I would be living a completely different life in a town I didn’t even know about yet. I did that several times over the past decade; throwing away an old life for a new one in an attempt to find one that would fit and that I could stick with. I think I got it right, finally, in the big upheaval of 2008. 😀

I traveled more than 50,000km over the past decade, crisscrossing the North American continent several times. I moved six times, including the move into Miranda; held eleven jobs, including the positions I’ve taken since hitting the road; and lived in ten places for at least three months, four of them pre-RVing.

While the past decade had me passing many milestones and living through some notable historic events, the defining moment of the decade for me occurred at 11:05AM on February 5, 2007 in Greenfield Park, Quebec when my dad died. We were both prepared and had had long talks in his lucid moments about death and what I was going to do with the rest of my life. RVing wasn’t even on my radar at that point, but big changes were in the making and he gave me his blessing, and the means, to do whatever would make me happy. I dedicate this phase of my life to him.

I don’t do the party thing on New Year’s and I’m working at 10 tomorrow, so I’m having a quiet, reflective, evening at home. I just finished the most amazing dinner I have made in months; my crazy schedule has had me pretty much just snacking throughout the day. Brussels sprouts just happened to be on sale today, so I decided to recreate the ones my friend’s mom made on Christmas, which I shall henceforth call ‘Brussels Sprouts Navidad.’ Behold!

I did them exactly the way she did, except that I substituted sunflower seeds for almonds. I thought they would be a lot of work, but they came together very easily and tasted divine. I can’t believe that I thought I liked Brussels sprouts before when I now know that they are supposed to taste like nirvana on a plate.

(my making the Brussels sprouts also goes to show that you can cook the exact same thing in an RV as in a stick house 😀 )

Happy New Year to all my readers!