Well it's been a while - I've not blogged in ages, part of the reason being the all-pervading darkness, which was my last substantial post, and partly because there's been NO TIME, as per usual, and lastly - probably because I've got nothing to say.  Or to be more precise: I've felt mean spirited and haven't wanted to share my life on the internet.  Not that anyone forces me to do so, but these blog efforts are usually directed in a "form letter" format for those friends and family who we don't see as often as we'd like, and lately, I just haven't felt like informing everyone as to what I'm thinking, and what we're doing.  So - sorry. I'm back on it now. 

Tonight I have a spare minute to write because Tiss is doing homework, and Jem and Mikus are off at a kiddie gymnastics lesson, first time for Mikus.  Not sure how it is going to go, and whether it is the right thing to be doing for Mikus, because of his leg and the need to protect it - but we've decided to give gentle gymnastics a go, mainly because Mikus is ADMANT that he needs to do a sport, and has been hassling me daily for the last six months about wanting to start doing a sport of some kind.  Finding any sport for 4 year olds here in Riga is a challenge, it was pretty much a choice between swimming (did it last year and quit after Mikus got blue lips every week from the cold, cold pool); folk dancing (what kind of a sport is that?); karate (um.... NO) and gymnastics.  We have got Mikus to agree that he will be cool about NOT doing certain exercises if they put too much strain on his leg, and are hoping that this will be the active sporty stuff that Mik so obviously needs.

Christmas passed in a colourful blur, with festive events held at Kūgures, our annual Ķekatas foray in Rīga where we went from house to house in a traditional Latvian version of Halloween, and new year's eve spent at a friends' place.  The kids were thoroughly spoiled, as is the usual for Christmas, and this year Jem and I bought a schmiko SLR digital camera as our combined present.  So if nothing else, there should be some good photos to put up on the blog from now on. I've posted a couple of Christmas pics below, still taken with our old point-and-shoot.

Now we are back into the daily grind of work and school and kindy and fencing lessons and Saucējas rehearsals and house building.  The last few weeks the winter has changed from being warm and dark to the opposite - FREEZING and WHITE.  Like the rest of Europe, we have been hit with mountains of snow and sub-zero temperatures, and although it is a pain (literally) to go outside for any extended period of time, it has made life more interesting and, dare I say, exotic lately.  The skies are often blue, and weekends have been spent sledding and crunching through the snow, and most importantly - I am now getting to fully enjoy the other Christmas present Jem made me.  Something I have searched for in music stores and online shops for the last couple of years with no success - a pair of HEADPHONE EARMUFFS.  Seems like a natural combination, no?  But there don't seem to be any commercial versions, so Jem had to get creative and make me a pair.  And my, are my ears toasty when walking to work in minus 10 degrees!