All your way

Round 24: Summer 2019

last update/next update

Betsy and Kimberly Carmody are both 48, Sarah is 14 and Susannah is 9.
(Ethan is 13)

Narrated by Betsy Carmody

Very soon after Mum died, Kimberly moved back in with us. Both our daughters had a really tough time with their grandmother's death and seeing we'd been making moves towards getting back together, we both thought now would be a good time.



Sarah was stunned to come home from school and see Kimberly sitting on the couch with me. I know that while we've been separated, Sarah was constantly worried about whether she'd done the right thing in telling Kimberly that she saw Linnea and me together - she didn't want to be to blame for destroying the family. I told her that if Kimberly and I got divorced, it would be my fault but it still played on her mind a lot.

We didn't go into details with Susannah, so she was just happy to have both of us back home again.

Our getting back together wasn't as sudden as it probably appeared to a lot of people. Kimberly and I had been getting together regularly since she moved out, just to talk.

We didn't see each other at all, except when we were dropping the kids off, for a few months and it was so awkward when we first started meeting up. I don't think either of us knew what to say.

But we kept trying and started laying down some ideas of what would have to happen for us to get back together. All Kimberly wanted was for me to stop seeing Linnea. I hadn't seen her at all since Kimberly left, so that was already done.

Kimberly seemed a little surprised that I thought the main problem with us was that we didn't talk. I guess that sort of proves my point but that's something we both agreed to work on. It wouldn't do us any good to get back together and fall back on old habits.

While we were separated, Kimberly lost her job. The salon she worked at was sold and the new owners decided to get all new staff. Kimberly was home and unemployed for a little while, hoping to find another hairdressing job. Eventually, she got sick of bird watching all day and took a job in catering instead.

Right now, she's working really late nights so we don't get to see her quite as often as we'd like. She's often sleeping when we're awake. It's okay when I'm at work, but on my days off, the house is so quiet with Kimberly in bed and the girls at school. That's when I start to really miss Mum.

Even with Kimberly's late hours, the change in Susannah has been amazing. She's so much happier with the family all back together again. I think we all are.

Only recently, at least to my knowledge, Sarah has been showing an interest in boys. One boy in particular.

Ethan Novak is over at our house almost constantly. I don't mind that. I think Sarah is old enough to start thinking about dating now and Ethan seems like a nice kid.

I'm a little worried about Sarah's increased obsession with her appearance though, most specifically her nose. It never seemed to bother her up until this year and I really hope this isn't about her wanting to be more appealing to boys.

I was so shocked when Sarah came to Kimberly and me and asked if she could get a nose job. I should have tried to stay calm but I couldn't help it. It seems so completely unnecessary to me and she's only 14!

So Sarah turned to Kimberly and started trying to get her on her side, probably knowing full well Kimberly wouldn't be as opposed to it as I was. It's one of Kimberly's weak spots. Sarah and Susannah both know that if they want something, it's easier to ask her than to ask me.

So of course, Sarah won Kimberly over pretty quickly and looked at me as if to say, "what's the big deal?" Surgery on your face, that's the big deal!

Kimberly and I talked it over some more after Sarah went to bed and she ended up talking me into it! Ugh, I'm so angry about agreeing to it. I really think she's too young but she's so obsessed with her nose right now. Maybe it's just better to let her get it "fixed".

So I'm still reluctant. Very. To hear Kimberly and Sarah talk about it, you'd think it was going to be life-changing.

Sarah can't wait. I don't know what she's more excited about - the nose job or the week off she's getting from school.

Sarah's surgery went well. She still looks like Sarah, which I have to admit, I was worried about. As soon as all her bruising went down and she had her bandages off, she wanted to invite Ethan over.

There's definitely a little spark there between them, I think. It's sweet.

They tend to go outside a bit more now, just to get away from Susannah (and Kimberly and me, I'm guessing!) I'm keeping a very close eye on them! Sarah's only 14 but from working at a high school for so longer, I know kids younger than her have got themselves into situations they can't really handle. I don't want that to be my daughter, so I'll be spying for a little while longer!

Sarah's surgery - comparison pics:

Before...


and after...That's a lot better, huh? I didn't change anything else, I just bumped her nose out a bit. Well, a lot. I bumped it out as far as the slider would let me and it still looked a little short so I accepted it and then did it again and bumped it out a little more.

Here are Sarah's biological parents, in profile...

I don't know...they both have pretty terrible noses and neither really looks exactly like Sarah's. Just to clarify, the only thing I did to Sarah's nose was lengthen it. The actual shape was not changed at all.

And here are Sarah's parents front on, just for fun.

Sarah's a pretty decent mix of both parents, I think. And I love that she's got a recessive blonde gene. That'll make any kids she has a little bit more interesting than you normally get with adopted Sims.

Notes:

• Title comes from All Your Way by Morphine.
• I've mentioned before that while Betsy and Kimberly were separated, I dropped in on them once a season, took them on a date or outing, just to see how their wants were spinning. Well...they wanted to get back together - that much was clear!
• I know I said I was waiting until 18 for any future plastic surgery but I just couldn't stand looking at Sarah's lack of nose any more! If it was just unattractive it would be one thing but it was barely human looking and it bothered me! I'm much happier with Sarah now.
• I wasn't going to let Sarah and Ethan go steady but she had the want for her first kiss, then she wanted to go steady with Ethan, so who am I to say no? LOL.