Pitseleh

Round 17: Days 81-85

Last update/next update

Narrated by Ben Nihill

One of the reasons that Caterina and I moved our family back to Sullivan was to be closer to our families, including my sister Collette. So after all that, the only time I've seen Collette since we came back was when Caterina yelled at her for stealing our paper the other morning. My sister's a little strange sometimes.



We've got our own family to focus on, anyway. Caterina is using up some of her maternity leave so we can avoid hiring a nanny for a while. It's not that we can't afford it - I got a huge $500,000 bonus from work so it's well within our reach. We just figure if we can have one parent home with our kids for a while, why not?

Speaking of our home, it's enormous! We're not quite sure what to do with ourselves after living on top of each other in Exeter for so many years.

Max is loving the basketball hoop in the front yard. It was left here by the previous family and it's perfect for Max. He's a real sports nut.

Caterina finally has a place to put all her training equipment. She doesn't really need it - she says she gets enough exercise at work - so she's set it up in Max's room.

Olivia isn't verbal enough to tell us much about what she thinks but I think she likes it here too.

A big house means lots more work though and I feel like I never stop raking leaves. I wonder if I can hire someone to do this for me.

Max and Olivia spend more time together than you'd expect for a brother and sister who are ten years apart. Their rooms are both loaded with toys, so there's plenty for them to do inside when they finish making a mess of the front yard.

It might be time to consider a dog, now that we've got the space. Zelda Benton came over to welcome us back to the neighbourhood and she brought her little dog Hachiko. Olivia just loved him.

Max has started high school now and he's still punching away at that bag. He's developing some actual technique now, rather than just playing around with it like he did when he was a child.

It must be paying off, because he's become quite popular with the girls.

I'm a little concerned about this girl because I'm sure Caterina told me her nephew was dating Abigail. But he hasn't brought her around again, so maybe it was over as quickly as it began.

I still have some issues with my brother Charlton. I've forgiven but I haven't forgotten. I know that both our wives would like us to reconcile but even all these years later, we haven't made much headway. I know they never actually kissed but he caused a lot of trouble between Caterina and me and the thought still bugs me.

But he and Aphrodite both get on really well with Max, so I'm really going to try and improve our relationship. It's been over 20 years now, so it's probably time.

There are a couple of days a week when Caterina and I both have days off. Now that Max is older, we're able to actually sleep in a little on those days. He gets Caterina out of her crib when he wakes up, gives her breakfast and has her playing quietly in her room before he leaves for school.

He's still got plenty of time for girls though, of course.

This one lost interest pretty fast.

No, he's not tired from dating. Max works really hard. He helps out at home, as I mentioned before, he's getting straight As in school and he works an after-school job too. He's actually already gained entrance to college. He wants to go now but he's not old enough yet.

Oh, man...another girl. This one came home with him on the bus.

I really hope he's not going to become a womaniser.

I'd like him to find one nice girl and stick with her. I don't know if I'll get my wish, seeing he's been through 3 girls already and he just turned 16!

I hope Olivia gives me less to worry about! So far, she's only interested in school and her toys. I'd be a happy dad if it stayed that way!

Random pic:SQUEEEE! She's so much like Ben. She's got Caterina's colouring, except for the eyes.

Notes:

• I don't know what's up with the $500,000 bonus. Ben's in Graphic Design, which is a custom career and I'm sure the pop-up I got said that he'd earned $500, not $500,000. But I was decorating the house, looked down at the family funds and thought "Hey, I didn't have that much cash before!" Anyway...so these guys don't have to worry about money any more.
• The previous family who lived here were Lukas and Raffaella Novak. They lived here from when Augustin was a child right up until Magdalena left for college. Lukas is Ben's uncle.
• Max's lawn date with Amber was pretty bad. She had the want to dance with him, he had the want to dance with her but would she actually accept the dance interaction? Of course not! Because she's a cow, as we've all seen in the school updates. Opal though, (in the orange t-shirt) has negative chemistry with him and she let him kiss and flirt with her.