Sunday 3 January 2010

Blacking out the friction

Round 24: Autumn 2019
last update/next update

Maria Moretti is 76, Filippo is 64, Emil Collins is 47, Anna is 41, Nathan is 9 and Hope is 8.
(Amelia is 30, Noah is 9 months, Corbin and Pamela are both 34 and Julia is 8)

Narrated by Emil Collins

Hope and Nathan are 8 and 9 now and they are nearly constantly at each other's throats.


Nathan gets no small amount of glee out of tormenting his little sister.

Not that she doesn't give back as good as she gets. Is this normal? I was already a teenager by the time Caleb and David were old enough to do anything other than eat, sleep and pee, so relations between siblings so close in age isn't exactly something I'm familiar with!

It makes me wonder why Filippo is so keen to retire - he'd be dealing with Nathan and Hope every afternoon then.

He feels like he's missing out on a lot being at work all day. Amelia usually brings Noah around during the day, so Mum gets to dote on him (her 10th grandchild!) much more than Filippo does.

Amelia still has 3 months left of maternity leave, so she's all alone in the house with the baby most of the day. She's happy to have someone take Noah off her hands for an hour and Mum is more than happy to be that person.

I think seeing Noah has been enough to cure me of that last longing for another baby. He's adorable and he almost makes me want another, but it's really nice to be able to give him back to Amelia and know that she's the one who'll have to deal with the nappies and the spit up.

Not that Anna would go for another baby, even if I did want one. She loves Nathan and Hope but she really hates a lot of the stuff that goes along with parenthood.

Like dealing with other kids' parents. For whatever reason, Anna took an instant dislike to Pamela, the mother of Hope's best friend, Julia.

I don't know why. I think she's very...nice.

She brings Julia over a lot, so she and Hope can play on the weekends.

Nathan hides out in his room when Julia comes over, especially if her little sister Lucy comes along too. Too many girls for him. We'll give him five years and see if he's still hiding in his bedroom when girls come over. If he's anything like his dad, he won't be.

Julia's dad, Corbin, works at The Claudette in Exeter and he talked to his boss and Anna and I ended up being able to eat there for free.

Anna loved it, of course. Anything glamorous is right up her alley.

I'm not sure why. We both grew up in pretty modest homes so it's not like this is what she's used to.

Anna is a definite fan of the finer things in life, so I try to give her as many of them as I can. We're not rich, but we do okay.

Anna recently quit her job and I thought she was crazy to do it. Her job, basically, was to show up at parties for a few hours, mingle and then go home. If I can ever score that plum position, I'll be a very happy man (I'm stuck editing videos for now). But Anna thought that at 41, the job was a little undignified so she started looking for something else.

Anna eventually got a job in journalism and she says she's much happier doing that - actually using her degree for something! Who'd have thought that my wife would ever get a job involving actual work?!

Random pic:

I just wanted to show off how awesome this restaurant (which I did not build, I add) is, really. I have it set up with the Visitor Controller so that everyone shows up in formalwear so everything looks fancy. I do usually have to take control of Adam and make sure he's cooking though. It seems like if you leave the owner as the chef, it doesn't "stick" when you take a Sim there as a visitor. Other than that, it works great.

Notes:
  • Title is from Blacking Out The Friction by Death Cab For Cutie.
  • Emil wanted to flirt with Pamela and be BFFs with Corbin. Well...you can't have it both ways, Emil. Corbin's probably not going to want to be your buddy if you go around flirting with his wife.
  • Next round is Nathan and Hope's last round as children! I can't believe it. Nathan was one of the first kids conceived and born under the current aging system (Tessa was the first one born but she was conceived the previous round, when I was still doing the 5 day rotations). That seems momentous somehow, that those kids are all turning into teens in the next couple of rounds.

12 comments:

  1. Oooh! I love that fancy restaurant. I've been meaning to make my sims somewhere swanky to go. I usually have to be in a mood to do it, though. ;)

    You should try JM Pescado's Business Controller. It allows you to set what the uncontrolled manager does when another sim visits the lot. I love it!

    LOL at Anna not liking what comes with being a parent. Like other parents. xD And those two are really at it... maybe they'll, uh, grow out of it?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ok..So can I have the job that Anna just vacated??!! No serious! The restaurant is really lovely and the outfits Anna wears are really nice!

    I can't wait to see the kids turn into teenagers.

    ..and the look on Emil's face when he looked at Pamela...interesting :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. These two are another one of your unusual couples that snuck up on me. I do love these two. lol at Emil's look over Pamela! Dirty man! Hope watch how much you bring your friend's mom home!

    and also an lol @ his wants. No, he really can't nor should he be able to have it both ways. XD

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love the Claudette *drool* and Anna's outfits (both the formal and the sweater from the family photo). Their children are cuties, maybe they'll have an oppsie :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. That picture of Emil checking out Pamela is just hilarious!

    I love the Claudette, it looks so glamorous.

    ReplyDelete
  6. The restaurant is so glam, I really like it. Such a beautiful place to visit.
    It made me laugh how he noted that Pamela is very nice and he doesn't understand why his wife doesn't agree. Such a typical man.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Sure Pamela is "nice" ahuh... I can tell that's just what he's thinking in that picture!

    I absolutely LOVE the outfit Anna is wearing walking otu the door! So classy.

    I really like your Carmody girls. They definitely seem like they could have been raised with good money.

    Wow on Nathan and Hope! I can see why tormenting would make someone not want another!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thanks for reading and commenting everyone!

    Mao, I was so glad when I found The Claudette. It was all decorated already - all I did was change the chairs and a couple of the paintings. It needs a sink or dishwasher in the kitchen because I just noticed the waitresses are washing the dishes in the bathroom upstairs.

    Thanks for the tip on the business controller. I've not tried that out but it sounds handy! I'm guessing it keeps the owner in any uniform you've set for them too?

    I tend to see something of myself in a lot of my Sims and not liking play dates is what it is for Anna. I honestly think I would hate being forced to interact with other parents.

    Demonde, I know, right? 4 hours a night, only 3 nights a week and pretty easy duties. Nice work if you can get it!

    Emil is Romance, so he looks at a lot of women that way. He's not getting this one though!

    Lunar, I'm glad you like Anna and Emil. Emil's such a sleaze - I caught him flirting with Asha at Jace's shop once. Dirty old man - he's old enough to be her father!

    Apple Valley, I don't think Emil would mind if they had an oopsie but Anna certainly would! She usually has the fear of having a baby.

    Anna's formal wear is by Xandher at TSR and her sweater is, I think, by Shannanigan.

    Cissie, my Sims have been checking out other Sims like crazy in my game recently but I haven't written it all in. I've saved a few of the funnier ones for Outtakes though.

    Speechless, ah, yes, some men are so easily won over by a pretty face, aren't they? LOL.

    Maisie, Anna's outfit at the end there is by Xandher at TSR. It comes in a bunch of colours - I just love it. It's nice to have something that I can use on older Sims (and there are probably some younger Sims it'd be good for too).

    The Carmody family had quite a bit of money when the girls were growing up but Vivienne and Joseph were never showy. So Betsy and Anna never wanted for anything but they didn't go on round the world trips or get to lounge around by their backyard pool either.

    Emil's family was a different story. They were pretty well off up until Emil's father died and the money started dwindling and they were well into debt by the time Emil became a teen. It's only recently that they've been able to pull themselves out of it.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Great update! That restaurant sure is swanky! I figured you were using the Visitor Controller set to formalwear, that's a great idea! Baby Noah has a beautiful skintone, can't wait to see him as a child.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Simmington, thank you! Noah is a toddler now and you can pretty much tell what he'll look like at each age stage by looking at Wade - they are identical! His skin tone comes from his daddy too, though his eye and hair colour come from Amelia.

    ReplyDelete
  11. LOL, Emil checking out Pamela's ass! Glad to see he hasn't lost his "spirit" lol!

    I love Anna's dress! That's gorgeous! All of her outfits actually, she's always so stylish! :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Laura, Emil's always cheating, even if it's only in his mind or with his eyes!

    I'm very careful with how I dress Anna, so thanks. There are a lot of things I have that she would not wear!

    ReplyDelete