The other night, while at the pub, Jem met the sister of an Aussie friend. When he asked her the usual 'what do you do?' she answered that she was a 'mother and a surfer'. Which I reckon is pretty much the coolest job description anyone could have (...and for those people who are WAY too into desktop technology, she meant she was a real beach surfer, not the internet kind). And when Jem and I talked about it later on, I realised that my own job description is similar: 'mother and a Saucēja'. (the...

Ok, I'm going to be brave. And admit that I've always hada slight allergy to anything Russian. I won't go into the reason (if you don't know why and you're interested, try reading some basic Latvian history) - but last week I got a partial cure for my allergy.My singing group "Saucējas" was invited to a folklore festival in St. Petersburg and try as I might to get out of it, I had to go along. I felt funny about going - partly because I have never been away from the boys overnight, and partly...