Round 21: Summer 2014
Jace Novak is 57, Magdalena is 50, Lia is 17, Maia is 12 and Tessa is 5.
(Victoria Kirby is 13, Rebecca Kirby is 5)
Narrated by Magdalena Novak
Lia's entering her final year of school and she's really excited about joining her best friend Ione at Suffolk. It's all she talks about lately.
Jace and I really want to be able to send her but things are so tight recently and we're not sure if we can afford the tuition. Taxes were not kind to us this year and there's still a big stack of bills we can't yet afford to pay off.
I hadn't entered a cooking contest in a while, so I thought I'd try to enter my lobster thermidor. Of course, I burnt it and had to start all over.
When I finally got the dish right, I showed up at the competition only to find two of the other competitors had made the exact same thing. I just had to hope mine tasted better than theirs!
Luckily, it was and the $500 prize went to me! It wasn't going to make much of a dent in our bills or Lia's tuition but it was something at least.
Jace's shop, Rosa Lucida, won the Best of the Best award this year and that's really helping business. His supplies are expensive though and that's cutting down on his profits lately. But at least we've finally managed to pay off the bills and can now focus on Lia's tuition.
Lia is busy preparing for college, so it's been Maia helping out in the store lately. She's got a bronze badge already.
She might have been the one more suited to it all along. Flower arranging is more of an artistic pursuit but Maia is so outdoorsy that I think she'd enjoy being around plants and flowers all day anyway.
Unlike Lia, she actually enjoys the sales side of it too. She has the same talent for it that Jace has.
She started out slow on the register but she learnt very fast.
Maia and Lia have been talking about how much fun Lia will have away at college next year and I think Maia's getting ideas of going herself.
With her grades though, I don't know if she'll have much of a chance. Jace has talked to her about her homework and study routine before - it's been a problem for a few years - and nothing seems to get through to her.
Lia and Tessa get themselves out of bed for school in the morning but Maia has to be dragged out.
Even then, she usually ends up missing the bus and having to walk to school.
I don't know what it is with her. Her best friend is Victoria and she's fairly studious, so it's not her influence.
Lia and Tessa are both very conscientious students and we tried to instill the same values in Maia. For whatever reason, she's just never been very interested.
Random pic:
Jace Novak is 57, Magdalena is 50, Lia is 17, Maia is 12 and Tessa is 5.
(Victoria Kirby is 13, Rebecca Kirby is 5)
Narrated by Magdalena NovakLia's entering her final year of school and she's really excited about joining her best friend Ione at Suffolk. It's all she talks about lately.Jace and I really want to be able to send her but things are so tight recently and we're not sure if we can afford the tuition. Taxes were not kind to us this year and there's still a big stack of bills we can't yet afford to pay off.I hadn't entered a cooking contest in a while, so I thought I'd try to enter my lobster thermidor. Of course, I burnt it and had to start all over.When I finally got the dish right, I showed up at the competition only to find two of the other competitors had made the exact same thing. I just had to hope mine tasted better than theirs!Luckily, it was and the $500 prize went to me! It wasn't going to make much of a dent in our bills or Lia's tuition but it was something at least.Jace's shop, Rosa Lucida, won the Best of the Best award this year and that's really helping business. His supplies are expensive though and that's cutting down on his profits lately. But at least we've finally managed to pay off the bills and can now focus on Lia's tuition. Lia is busy preparing for college, so it's been Maia helping out in the store lately. She's got a bronze badge already.She might have been the one more suited to it all along. Flower arranging is more of an artistic pursuit but Maia is so outdoorsy that I think she'd enjoy being around plants and flowers all day anyway.Unlike Lia, she actually enjoys the sales side of it too. She has the same talent for it that Jace has.She started out slow on the register but she learnt very fast.Maia and Lia have been talking about how much fun Lia will have away at college next year and I think Maia's getting ideas of going herself.With her grades though, I don't know if she'll have much of a chance. Jace has talked to her about her homework and study routine before - it's been a problem for a few years - and nothing seems to get through to her.Lia and Tessa get themselves out of bed for school in the morning but Maia has to be dragged out.Even then, she usually ends up missing the bus and having to walk to school.I don't know what it is with her. Her best friend is Victoria and she's fairly studious, so it's not her influence.Lia and Tessa are both very conscientious students and we tried to instill the same values in Maia. For whatever reason, she's just never been very interested.Random pic:
Just because there wasn't an awful lot of Tessa in the update. She brings Rebecca Kirby home from school just about every day - they're best buddies and it's very cute!Notes:
- Lia didn't roll any wants for Gordon this time but she has a persistent general "Fall in Love" want, which is kind of sweet.
- The Novaks are probably one of my poorest families right now. They finally accumulated about $4000 and then I had to take half of it for Lia's tuition. They still owe another $2000, due in 2015/16. It's probably a good thing for them that it doesn't look like Maia is college-bound!
- Maia never rolls the want to do homework. Sometimes I'll have Lia and Tessa do their homework in the afternoon and then in the morning, Lia will roll the want to do homework. I guess she wants to help Maia out a bit! I had the same thing happen with Calvin when Troy wasn't doing his homework.
- Magdalena has finally got some sense into her and the want for a baby has turned into a fear. It's been a fear for Jace for a while but apparently it takes a severe financial crisis for Magdalena to realise a fourth baby at 50 is not a good idea.
Wow, this family is really struggling. It's a good thing Maia's not that interested in studying! The college tuitions are *bad*, they have dragged many of my families to huge debts.
ReplyDeleteMaia's outfit is supercute, where did you get it?
fun story.
ReplyDeleteI love many of your outfits, hair styles and furniture..I'd love to see a list of where you got your mods.
thanks!
I feel their pain of having to send a child to college and trying to pay the bills. Maybe she can get a job at school and help pay for the rest of her schooling.
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone!
ReplyDeleteI've not yet had to put any of my families into debt to pay for college but many have come close! When Finn Romilly goes to college, Henry and Araminta will be hurting too, I think.
Maia's outfit is from All About Style. It's perfect for Maia's age group, I think.
I think Lia might end up having to work while at college. I've never done that (well, Caleb worked on campus but he wasn't a student) so I might try it out.
T.Irwin, I've been thinking of doing a list of mods so I might get started on that today. :)
They were hurting but seemed to make some headway there at the end. College is pricey I make my students take out loans if they short like my parents did on me lol.
ReplyDeleteFunny that everyone prepared lobster at the contest.
Not as funny as it is when they prepare cereal or mac and cheese! I'd love to see someone try that at a real life cooking contest.
ReplyDelete