Merry Christmas!
At least, for those of you who celebrate Christmas, then I hope you had a good one. Sounds like things have been rough at home, so I hope things get better. *hugs*
Things out here have been absolutely wonderful thus far. New York is gorgeous, with charming houses all over the place, classy types of restaurants and people, enchanting landscapes...I think the only thing that would make it better is some snow, because this winter landscape begs for it. Even though the Syracuse area has over a million people (don't remember at all how many...maybe a few million?), the Eastwood area (where Eric's family lives, and where we're staying) feels suburban, but in a quaint, classy sort of way. I'd be quite happy living out here, eventually. That, and his family is absolutely amazing, and some of the friendliest people I've ever met. Today I got to meet his grandma, and once she got over her "cantankerous" opening sequence (she tends to be cantankerous, from what I've heard), she opened up a lot - it helped a lot that we had so many interests in common, too, as she's into all of the domestic-type stuff, too. Plus, she likes Prairie Home Companion, woot! Even allowing for Mom's quilting genious, Eric's grandma is superior in that regard. She not only does the traditional piecing and patterning of quilts, with beautiful color choices, but she also does applique (something Mom hates to do), and does it so well that some of her quilts look like paintings with all kinds of layers in the background.
Eric and I got out here on Saturday, and the only un-good parts of travel were Mom's driving and the landing at the Syracuse airport. Eric's dad and his wife picked us up, we visited for awhile, and he took us back around 11 or midnight. Eric was so excited to show me around his home that we ended up taking a 4-mile round trip walk around town so that he could show me where he grew up, and a few of his friends' houses. Since then, we've been to 3 Christmas parties, and apparently I still haven't met even half of the people that I'll meet out here. O.O I was surprised to be included in any gift-giving at all, but his family seems very sweet and generous, and easily helped me feel included in the spirit of all of the festivities.
The accents out here are quite fun to listen to, I can't wait to see if Eric slips back into it at all. I've gotten a bit of knitting done on Eric's sweater, too, so the front piece is now about 3 inches tall. *o* Aside from that, we've been hanging out with lots of fun kitties, and we've been on a couple of walks so far.
Again, I hope everyone has a great time during the holidays, and just takes time to truly be happy, and hang out with people they love. <3 <3 <3
P.S. Eventually, after we figure out how to make Eric's camera work, I'll post piccies from the MN and NY trips on here, too. *o* I love you all very much!!!
Love, Lyssa
Things out here have been absolutely wonderful thus far. New York is gorgeous, with charming houses all over the place, classy types of restaurants and people, enchanting landscapes...I think the only thing that would make it better is some snow, because this winter landscape begs for it. Even though the Syracuse area has over a million people (don't remember at all how many...maybe a few million?), the Eastwood area (where Eric's family lives, and where we're staying) feels suburban, but in a quaint, classy sort of way. I'd be quite happy living out here, eventually. That, and his family is absolutely amazing, and some of the friendliest people I've ever met. Today I got to meet his grandma, and once she got over her "cantankerous" opening sequence (she tends to be cantankerous, from what I've heard), she opened up a lot - it helped a lot that we had so many interests in common, too, as she's into all of the domestic-type stuff, too. Plus, she likes Prairie Home Companion, woot! Even allowing for Mom's quilting genious, Eric's grandma is superior in that regard. She not only does the traditional piecing and patterning of quilts, with beautiful color choices, but she also does applique (something Mom hates to do), and does it so well that some of her quilts look like paintings with all kinds of layers in the background.
Eric and I got out here on Saturday, and the only un-good parts of travel were Mom's driving and the landing at the Syracuse airport. Eric's dad and his wife picked us up, we visited for awhile, and he took us back around 11 or midnight. Eric was so excited to show me around his home that we ended up taking a 4-mile round trip walk around town so that he could show me where he grew up, and a few of his friends' houses. Since then, we've been to 3 Christmas parties, and apparently I still haven't met even half of the people that I'll meet out here. O.O I was surprised to be included in any gift-giving at all, but his family seems very sweet and generous, and easily helped me feel included in the spirit of all of the festivities.
The accents out here are quite fun to listen to, I can't wait to see if Eric slips back into it at all. I've gotten a bit of knitting done on Eric's sweater, too, so the front piece is now about 3 inches tall. *o* Aside from that, we've been hanging out with lots of fun kitties, and we've been on a couple of walks so far.
Again, I hope everyone has a great time during the holidays, and just takes time to truly be happy, and hang out with people they love. <3 <3 <3
P.S. Eventually, after we figure out how to make Eric's camera work, I'll post piccies from the MN and NY trips on here, too. *o* I love you all very much!!!
Love, Lyssa