Up All Night

I think I drank 3 diet cokes after 5:00 last night.  It's almost 5am and I haven't slept one minute.  I've watched a lot of SVU, watched a movie on Netflix, memorized the map of Starved Rock, and I found a new place to live and work.  I also talked to myself a lot.  Mostly, about how to be a better mom.

I'm going camping in a week at Starved Rock State Park.  And guess what???  There are NO CHILDREN GOING!!  The epic camping trip with 27,000 children last summer, did me in.  I've wanted to go to Starved Rock for about 18 years.  I remember people telling me about the place when I lived in Illinois.  There are 18 canyons and most of them have waterfalls.  I've read that the best canyons to visit are the St. Louis, French, Wildcat, Tony, Kaskaskia, and Ottawa.  I'm taking my bike, my hiking shoes, a bunch of books, and a good friend.  

Starved Rock Map

Wildcat Canyon

I lived in San Jose, California on and off when I was little.  I remember the day that my mom took me to Santa Cruz.  The ocean water was freezing, but no one could get me to come out of the water.  I love the ocean.  I really want to be close to it.  I love the smell of the salty air and how I feel when I'm close to the water.  So right between San Jose and Santa Cruz is this little town called Los Gatos.  It's 30 minutes from the ocean and the Santa Cruz Mountains are right there!

  
I know that no one in my family is going to like this idea.  My boys are going to want to stay here.  Harrison's senior year is coming up.  I should be excited for this.  I should wait one more year.  Ugh, I'm sick of waiting and this is the perfect year to get out of the job that almost sucked the life out of me. I'm still going to ask and hope for the best.  Oh, look, the sun is coming up.  Awesome.....