Reservations

Round 17: Days 81-85

Last update/Naomi's next update/next update

Narrated by Naomi Novak (this one is quite long)

I've got to say, Grandma is a much better babysitter than I was. Eliot doesn't get away with anything! Grandma is retired now, so she watches Eliot whenever he's not in school.



Or she did, anyway. He's old enough to be home by himself now. On his birthday, I decide something must be done about that hair. He was reluctant but I've got my gold badge now, so he let me work my magic! I think he looks pretty awesome, but I'm biased. We'll have to see what the girls think!

My reputation must be improving now that my salon is at Level 5, because parents are bringing their kids in now for me to cut their hair. They're much squirmier than my adult clients, that's for sure!

I swear to God, I almost fired Kimberly for this! We've got a reputation to uphold here! Poor Tate's going to have to shave that all off, because there's no way to fix it, what with that huge chunk she's taken out. I tried to call him back so I could fix it myself (for free, of course) but he left the salon in a huff pretty quickly. I can't say I blame him. I'd probably be turning over some furniture if someone did that to my hair.

I really need a vacation after that! Seeing I just won a $50000 business prize, I figured I could afford some time away. I'm meeting Owen there and we're staying at my grandparents' holiday house (which they've never stayed in themselves).

This is actually at the house! Can you believe it? It's right on the beach.

I guess I laid out too long though, because I am all red and peely now. Yuck.

Owen doesn't seem to mind though, because he was more than happy to join me for some fun in the hammock later on.

We could have spent the entire time just at the house but we did eventually venture off to explore Cape Elizabeth a little more.

I think the shipwreck was the best thing we saw.

It was fun playing pirates and pretending we were kids again.

Owen took it a little more seriously than I did though. Men!

You're not really supposed to climb up into the crows nest but I wouldn't let that stop me. It's an amazing view from up there. That's our house across the road there.

Back at home, Eliot's been making friends with David Moretti...

and his sister Amelia (and they are just friends, he insists).

And he's made really good friends with Alayna Midlock.

It's the haircut, I'm telling ya!

I sure hope everyone likes hearing about my vacation...

...because I don't plan on shutting up about it any time soon! It was all so gorgeous there. I wanted to go back as soon as I arrived home.

Grandpa died while we were all out and Grandma was taking a nap. It seems like he died while spying on the neighbours with the telescope.

Grandma was upset that she wasn't there for Grandpa when he took his last breath. Dad has told her it's not her fault but she's still feeling guilty. And meanwhile, I've been thinking that now that Grandpa is gone, Grandma might not be too far behind. That's depressing.

I was telling Owen about it all on the phone and he insisted on taking me out to take my mind off it. Poker though? Yawn.

I lose interest pretty fast but Owen stays at the table with all the old dudes. The one in the top hat looks seriously shady so I decide I need to pull Owen away before he loses any money.

He is not that hard to distract, fortunately.

After some dinner, Owen comes home with me. He hasn't met Dad yet and Dad is keen to assess him and register his disapproval if necessary. It seems to be going okay.

Mum has already met Owen lots of times and they get along really well. She hates the tattoos he's just got though. I've already been told I'm not to get one, under threat of being disowned. Mum says it's bad enough that my natural hair colour hasn't seen the light of day since I was 17.

Our family is a little loud for Owen's liking. My uncle Adam wasn't impressed by what a drama queen he was about it.

Once Mum had finished cooking, we all sat down together to eat and talk about books we'd read recently.

Well, everyone except Uncle Adam. I guess food is totally serious to him (he's a chef, after all) and he didn't contribute much.

He was very talkative after dinner with Eliot though. I don't think he ever matured much past high school, even though he's in his 40s.

I heard him and Eliot in the living room playing video games as late as 2am before Uncle Adam finally called it a night and went home.

Oh, so embarrassing! I'd got up early for work and was just coming back from the bathroom when I saw Grandma had walked in on Owen getting out of my bed completely naked! Owen is just about blind without his glasses on, so I guess he didn't see her. I think we are both more embarrassed that she is. Later on, she told me she was pretty impressed by what she saw. I think she used the words "hot bod" or some other horrifying turn of phrase. I'm trying to block it out of my memory as we speak.

Sullivan Primary School: mini-update

This round's group of students is much larger than any I've had before. All 8 students are my playables, so that's been lots of fun. They seem a little more rambunctious than the previous lot! Here's Max and Luc on the first meeting. Luc is a little over-eager with the hugs.

Cordy and Wade are both new students and they're a bit of a handful. I don't think I've ever had games of Cops and Robbers break out in the middle of class before!

Multiple games of Cops and Robbers, no less! Max and Luc figure the Cops and Robbers game Cordy and Wade are playing looks fun, so they join in. Augustin is certainly kept on his toes by this lot.

On the plus side, he does have some conscientious students. Lia's painting skills are not great but she's only 6 and she's improving by the day. Her painting was still hung on the wall - all the kids' work is displayed.

Another positive note is that the older students have been quick to make the younger students feel included. Zaria has taken Ione under her wing and Max and Luc have resolved their earlier differences for at least long enough to eat lunch together.

Notes:

• I really like how Eliot has turned out. I should really take more care picking out hairstyles (I often just choose any old thing) because it's his hair that makes him, I think. He looks very much like his dad did as a teen but I was never overly impressed with Augustin as a teen.
• Guess which terrible teen babysitter is now pregnant? Yes, Naomi got pregnant by risky woohoo with Owen. Raffaella should have walked in on them half an hour earlier and she might have killed the mood completely, preventing this disaster. She's really early on, so I didn't mention it in the update because in real life, she probably wouldn't know yet, seeing she's been sleeping the whole time. But there's your sneak preview for next round.
• I love how Adam autonomously goes and plays video games with his teenage nephew rather than join in on adult conversation about literature. If he was a TS3 Sim, I think he'd have the childlike trait.
• Raffaella swooned at naked Owen right after she screamed at seeing him naked. And I don't know what she was doing in Naomi's room. Trying to sneak a peek, based on her later reaction.