Ok so its been forever since I updated so here it is in a very quick nutshell....I'm in Brooklyn right now and have been out to long island and am going back tomorrow because I'm hopping a plan back to Namibia for three weeks then Cape Town for one week....I'm visiting all my babies and friends and also the Tarantals in Cape Town....
*some woman named Erica Tarantal is on the news in new york...have to look into that when i'm back
* have visited many relatives so far and have seen a few friends in NYC....I'm seeing more tomorrow :)
*I'm very excited to go back and be able to DRIVE myself around Namibia!
*Can't wait to see all my friends half way around the world!
*Am trying to figure out a way to get there in the future without having to be stuck on a plane for 18 hours (and that's just from NY)
*I'm starting a new photo series on me in New York bathrooms....
*I'm winning a game of standing on one foot, and kneeling down to pick up a bag with my teeth without touching anything else :)
*Saw a wonderful play my little cousin was in
* Hung out with my relatives and had fun!

Ok next update should be on the other side of the world!
Cheers!
C*

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I got over my substitueaphobia and was the 2nd grade teacher to a class of kids on the south side of Tucson today :) I ignored the first phone call this morning but when they called for a second time I figured they really needed me (and two hours had passed)...it was actually rather fun to just pack up and go without knowing what I was getting into besides it was a second grade class. I was very lucky that the teacher left incredibly detailed lesson plans and all the bad kids were kicked out of the class and the gifted kids were in another program so I only had 10. It was great to make some money and help out kids :) now I just need to remember that thought when I run into really rotten kids!
Next week I'm off to Phoenix to work with Dad so besides possibly tomorrow I probably won't sub till february because of gem show and such.
La la la la laaaaa.......

"The Original "Original" Says Goodbye"
It is with mixed emotions that we write to you today to share the news that after a tremendous 22 years of serving our friends, neighbors and guests from near and far, Terra Cotta will close its doors on Saturday, January 31st.

Like so many other businesses, the current economic climate has taken its toll on us too and we can no longer continue on. On behalf of the Luria and Nordin families, we want to express our gratitude to you, our valued guests, who have afforded us the opportunity to pursue our passion these last 22 years. It has been an honor and privilege to open our doors each night and do our best in providing you with a unique Southwestern dining experience. We would be remiss if we didn't also acknowledge and thank the many talented staff that have worked with us over the years in creating and serving the wonderful cuisine that made Terra Cotta the success that it was. Lastly, we want to thank our many vendors (partners really, many of whom are local businesses too) and acknowledge our dedicated and talented peers in the industry - particularly those in the Tucson Originals.

While every story has an ending, this is not particularly the one our family would have chosen. However, in these last few weeks, we intend to focus on what has been and will ultimately be our defining legacy: the many
treasured relationships we have developed with you, our guests.

So, in these last few weeks, we hope that you will come in and dine at Terra Cotta to enjoy one last bowl of Jennifer's Tortilla Soup, the Garlic Custard, our signature Stuffed Prawns with Goat Cheese and of course one
last piece of our famous Chocolate Mousse Pie.

We'll be open nightly starting at 4:00 PM now thru January 31st.

Warmly,

Michael and Maya, Don and Donna

This has been a great start to a new year! The Aussie girls were here for 6 days (with the whole family) and stayed with Ziggy and me! While I found the trip to be overly scheduled and stressful at times...I suppose trying to do anything with 15 people is bound to be challenging.
We ate a LOT, perfected the art of shadow dancing, drank margaritas, danced around, played the accordion, walked Ziggy, laughed, shopped, drank so more, laughed and talked all night long. We also went to the desert museum, the coffee bus, and in and out burger. I'm so sad they left....while we were at my house it was low stress and high fun.
On New Year's Joel surprised us and came by a bit after midnight...I thought it was the neighbors coming to complain about my accordion but low and behold it was a kiss :) A few nights later Peta and I went and hung out with him and his cousins and had a great time......
Now I am typing away at my two essays for nursing school. The application is due January 15 and after that I will interview in February and hopefully get the acceptance letter in March!
That is a nutshell of a new year :)

Christmas=good times with family...led to visiting Joel's family that night....with a few drinks....I was no longer nervous :)

Today Mom and I hung up pictures on the wall going up the stairs....I LOVE them! I'm calling it my wall of adventure!

Tonight is the first "official" date with Joel (ok first official date with Joel in 17 years).... I'm very excited! I just know we are going to dinner...don't know where...my neighbor helped me pick out an outfit but due to unexpected cold weather I have to change from heels to boots tonight or I might get frostbite on my toes!

On Tuesday night our family from Oz will be here :) Yippee!!! That will be five days full of fun!

At some point in-between all of this I have to write my essays for my nursing school application due Jan 15.

That is it...Life in a nutshell :)
Hope everyone is enjoying the holidays!
Cheers! C*

Ziggy and I wish you a Merry Merry Happy Happy Holiday!!!!

Michael Franti in concert for the Xmas Jam 08~ I wasn't there but I gave him a bracelet from the Opuwo Beads and Seeds Project a few months ago and he is wearing it on stage!!!! AWESOME! © Willa Stein

It tis the last week of school and at this point all I have left is to turn my take home final in today at 2:30.
With slight disappointment but acknowledgement that I did my best...I only got a B in organic chemistry :( Oh well.... my teacher wrote me a very supportive email about how I will definitely get into the nursing program and that I would be her preferred provider for her family (if in that situation). We also talked about the fact that in time....this grade will be just that, a grade, it isn't who I am....just that I did above average in organic chemistry.

I am anticipating that when I turn in my test today that I'll have an A in anatomy and physiology...but you never know, I still had 2 large assignments that I don't know the grades for. *fingers crossed*
Now you would think I would be out celebrating but I got a cold so I'm parked on the couch in a pile of tissues... when I'm healthy I'll go have a drink in honor of completing all of my prerequisites this year. Now I've got to start in on the two application essays. Come January 15 the application will be complete and I'll be waiting for my interview in February and if accepted I'll start in June.

Since being sick I have started a journey down memory lane. I pulled out all of my old pictures and was laughing my ass off. I have had a LOT of hairstyles over the years....and some VERY let me say interesting clothing styles. All of this reminiscing was sparked by a recent reconnection with some friends from the past. It is actually getting slightly ridiculous, via the internet and my various "social networking" websites I have found almost everyone I was wondering about and quite a few I never thought I'd hear from again. It has been a fun adventure reconnecting with some. Then the other day on my dating website I got a really blast from the past....an email from "J" my first boyfriend in high school! This has turned into a whirlwind of fun. We hung out one night for six hours and he stopped by another day and besides that he has been working or at school. This has left us either texting or talking on the phone for literally hours a day... :) He journeyed down memory lane and found old letters and poems we wrote . He started reading one of the letters I wrote to him and I got pain in my sides and almost fell off my bed I was laughing so hard. Now not all of our conversations circle around the past but it is always a good moment of laughter when it does. How many of you know exactly what you did on this day 17 years ago? I do! Get this...I went to the winter formal "snowball" with J. Also one of the other things that is fun to think about is how easy we "fell in love" in high school. I told J that we were probably "in love" and saying "I love you" within days of becoming a couple and he laughed it off. Then he found a letter I wrote to him where I talk about all of the poems he has written me (which all say I love you) and how much I love him...in the EIGHT days we've been dating! Absolutely ridiculous! So having established that I was particularly naive and thought I could solve the worlds problems at 14... J and are having fun in the present. On the 27th we are going on a official date but should see each other before that.

So this is me today. Ziggy is rather excited, he gets to visit grandpa today :) I'm about to finish the semester. Just about finished with Christmas shopping. The year is coming to an end. My Australia family will be here to bring in the New Year. Happy...Almost Healthly....With Family...Life is Good!

I have to go to bed in a few minutes (I promised myself) so this is short but Maya (my sister) got me a ticket to go to the Augustana, Alanis Morisette,and Sarah McLaughing concert tonight. Turns out that Alanis thinks a bit much about herself. She had to have the hallway cleared before she could walk through...yes she is that special that no one else could be in the same corridor as her at the same time! Give me a break! Really makes you think twice about her...and while I did like most of the whole 5 songs she sang...in the back of my head I felt that she wasn't a nice person and it really tainted my view of her.....yuck!

On the other hand Augustana was rocking and rolling all over the place, literally...and I have a new appreciation for electric keyboard pianos because it really truly sounded like a piano and not a keyboard.

The real treat was the amazing and spectacular Sarah....she was so lovely, peaceful, beautiful, harmonious, spectacular, down to earth and graceful. She had a grand piano on stage and it was so powerful and she did an encore with her guitar.....she can truly play. (Alanis played.....her harmonica...yeah...no guitar...just her harmonica and her big lips)

Ok that is my nutshell and now it is off to bed to review my practice test for my real test for tomorrow AND get to sleep at a decent hour!

I dreamt I was on tour with Jon Bon Jovi as his humanitarian liaison. He gave me money and I figured out what to do with it. Jon if you are reading this....I'm damn good! I was assisting projects all over the world, HIV/AIDS, malaria, diarrhea, education. It was fun.


In another dream.....I had 4 days off and a relative came to visit in Tucson but I was going to go to California to see a guy (sound familiar?). I hadn't actually talked to the guy so I beamed myself to California real quick (truly) and asked him if I could come and beamed myself back! FYI the guy wasn't the one I had gone to see for reals a few weeks ago...but he was mighty cute and down to earth unlike other men...... anyway, my relative was really upset because they were only going to be in town for four days, but I argued that I was spending that whole day with them currently and not leaving till tomorrow so they still got to see me....they didn't like that. I went and packed up to go...but I didn't beam myself back over, for some reason I flew in a plane...why the hell would you fly in a plane if you could magically beam yourself places???

Today was a big turning point....I can now see the light at the end of the tunnel or more literally end of finals! My list of sections to finish for my lab book is down to 3 and one of those is making the table of contents...not hard....my chemistry final is handleable I'm studying for that over the weekend and monday. I have a test on friday along with the lab book due and the teacher just gave us the study guide which last time he took the test directly off if it so *fingers crossed* he does that again and I've got it down for sure. Over the weekend I spent the 20 plus hours on the lab book and I'm happy that I did that cause now I can breathe AND study...much more pleasant experience :)
I am also happy with the purple lights I hung outside my house and now my house stands out from the neighbors... very bright! Love it!
I've also been trying to smile more...even if I'm "just" studying....being cheerful (and yet still sarcastic) is a wonderful balance.... oh brb doorbell.....BACK neighbor stopped by to compliment me on the wonderful light selection :)
Ok I'm going to finish studying before a tv show at 11 comes on....
*moving, shaking and studyin* :)

Mom, Dad and I went on a couple of hikes over the weekend...here are some pictures of the desert....

Here are some pictures of my nephew Max and the wonderful decorations he put up at my house :)

My Tree

His third chocolate from my Christmas calendar

My front door

I just have 12 days, 1 test, 2 finals, 5 labs till....I'm free to start working on my application for nursing school! Then just over three weeks till the down under crew comes on up to cause trouble!
Right now I have to make the best out of the little things each day cause I do homework for HOURS...today I did 3 hours in the morning...went on a hike with Mom and Dad that was nice ....then I had to make photocopies and with prep that took 2 hours...and finally i just finished off a 6 hour stretch of homework tonight. Each day I try to figure out some sort of fun thing of the day....yesterday Max and I decorated my house (I'll put up pics soon) and went for ice cream :) Tomorrow I am going to hang more lights outside...yes that is my "fun thing" of the day! Few days ago it was ordering Chinese food.....wow what an exciting life...a lot different then a year ago today...I had just landed in Brisbane and was settling back into to the luxuries of life....wow time flies.....