Friday 11 June 2010

Hear me out

Round 27: Winter 2025
last update/next update

Caterina Nihill is 70, Max is 38, Zaria Royce-Nihill is 37, Josh is 11 and Jessica is 5.
(Lauren is 4, Emma is 5, Elspeth is 11, Olivia is 28 and Julian is 75)

Narrated by Zaria Royce-Nihill

Sometimes I look at Josh and Jessica and wonder when I got old enough to have an 11 year-old and a 5 year-old. It seems like they've grown up so fast!

Jessica is in kindergarten and Max and I are so proud of how enthusiastic she is about school!

Of course, school has meant she's been able to meet lots more kids and for a social butterfly like Jessica, that's heaven.

I don't think an afternoon goes by when Jessie doesn't have any friends over.

Jessica has a lot of friends but her core group consists of Emma Gottlieb and Lauren Carmody. Lauren is still in pre-school but seeing there aren't any other girls in her class, she's kind of latched on to Emma and Jessica.

It's so cute watching them together. They're like the Three Musketeers.

Josh has found it a bit harder to make friends and keep them. He was friends with a few boys, who have now all moved to high school. So I was happy when he started hanging around with Elspeth so much last year.

When I first met Elspeth, I wondered what a sweet little girl like her would want with my rough, brash son.

Appearances can be deceiving, I suppose!

Elspeth is more than a match for Josh!

Ever since Caterina started dating Julian Sitko, I've been on edge waiting for Max to blow up about it.

So far though, he seems totally fine with it, which really surprises me. I was ready to be very gentle with him about it, because I really don't know how I'd feel if it was my mother but Max has said himself he doesn't have a problem with Julian.

Max and Julian have really hit it off and it didn't really take them long either. They both have a love of sports, so they had that topic to break the ice from the beginning.

Sports helped endear Julian to Josh as well. All you need to do to win Josh over is know a lot about sports (that's how Elspeth became friends with him).

He pretends to enjoy Jessie's disgusting burnt muffins, so he's pretty popular with her too. My dad and Ben both died before she was born, so she's never really had a grandfather figure around before.

I just think it's sweet that Caterina's found somebody again. It must have been lonely for her after Ben died. She had us, of course, but it's not the same thing as having a partner.

She and Julian get along so well and they share many of the same interests; they're both extremely fit for people in their 70s, for instance.

Though their physical talents for that sort of thing seem to lie in different arenas.

Caterina has Julian out in the back yard most mornings, doing tai chi with her. She says he really enjoys it but he just looks bewildered every time I peek out at them.

Max's sister Olivia is in the midst of wedding planning. She and Steve are getting married next spring.

Caterina has never been the type to be totally crazy about her kids' weddings. She stayed right out of ours and wasn't even bothered that it took us twenty years to even get to that point. She seems to have gone a bit nuts about Olivia's wedding though and is constantly putting in her two cents on what Olivia should and shouldn't do.

I try to keep the peace. Olivia has very definite ideas about what she wants and she doesn't appreciate anyone else trying to share their own vision.

I think they're okay though. Weddings just make people crazy sometimes.

Nothing about the wedding is really set in stone yet anyway. Olivia did let Jessica talk her into having a flower girl, which she wasn't planning on. Of course, Jessica knew that she'd be that flower girl.

Max is completely uninterested in all the preparations. But then again, I don't remember him being particularly into the planning for our own wedding, so I guess that's just his way.
Max has had other things on his mind lately. He's been looking around for a restaurant to buy for the last few months and he finally found one that looked like a good investment.

He was so excited when he saw the listing. My immediate reaction was to worry about whether we could afford it, which Max thought was really funny. Yes, we can afford it. Easily. I'm still not really used to not having to worry about money, even after all these years.

The restaurant is called Front Page Cafe and it's right here in Sullivan. It's not too far away from us but Max is currently working some pretty insane hours trying to get started.

I told pretty much everyone we know about it, just to drum up a bit of business.

I took the kids down on Saturday, just to surprise him and to check out the restaurant. I was really impressed.

I keep telling him how proud I am of him but he shrugs it all off. He says he really hasn't done much with it yet. It was came furnished and was already a successful business when he bought it.
I know all that is true but it's Max who is continuing the success now, so I think he could take some credit for it.
Notes:
  • Title is from Hear Me Out by Ben Kweller.
  • Caterina rolled the ROS "You're feeling creative. Take up a new hobby or start a new business: painting, music, writing, crafting, pet breeding, whatever strikes your fancy" and seeing she had the want to master Tai Chi, I went with that for her.
  • I was thinking Max would react to Caterina and Julian more like Kirstin did but he was so smiley this session, which isn't really like him, and he wanted to be friends with Julian. He doesn't roll up "Become Friends With" wants very often, so that's fairly significant. It makes sense he'd be more okay with it than Kirstin. It's been six years since Ben died, only 2 since Collette passed.
  • Why, yes, I do love running restaurants! This one is the Front Page Cafe from MTS. I wasn't going to have anyone own this place but then I remembering I'd been thinking about getting Max a restaurant and this one seemed perfect for him.
  • I just realised how quickly Olivia's wedding is creeping up and I still haven't picked out bridesmaid dresses or anything. I'll have to get on that, I think! It's ages away, really, but I don't like to waste time picking outfits on the day. I like to get straight down to the business of making my computer groan with over 25 Sims on a lot and annoying my Sims by forcing them to pose for endless pictures. ;)
  • Josh and Elspeth will be teens this summer! That almost makes up for how few birthdays there will be then because I'm really excited to see how they both turn out. Especially Elspeth, because I have a feeling Josh will just look like a mini-Max, like he does now!

10 comments:

  1. I really like Julian and Caterina together, and his expression while doing the Tai-chi is priceless!

    The new restaurant looks fabulous! Are you using all the floors for tables/serving?

    I'm not as surprised on Elspheth turning into a teen, it seems like *ages* since she was born! I've been wanting to see her age up, rather anxiously, so I'm looking forward to that... and Adrienne's delivery in the summer. And Oliva's wedding, I'm pretty surprised you haven't got it all planned out already.

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  2. Maisie, I wasn't sure you would, because I know you were a big Collette fan! But Julian and Caterina seem very happy together.

    The restaurant is really only two storeys - the bottom part is just foundation, I think. But I'm only using the middle part right now. Once Max gets the levels up a bit, I may add some more tables upstairs.

    LOL, not long now! I've got so much I'm excited about in Sullivan right now. And yeah, I'm still not decided on Olivia's wedding. Finn and Victoria's is totally set in stone but theirs is coming up a lot sooner. I'd decided on Olivia's wedding gown before she and Steve even got engaged and I know where they're getting married but everything else is up in the air right now!

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  3. Yay, not much longer for the wedding! I have high expectations, Olivia being very artistic and such so I'm sure she (you) will plan a very beautiful wedding.

    Caterina and Julian are such a lovely couple. I'm glad that they've found each other and that Max is ok with it.

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  4. LOL! I was going to comment on your love for resturaunts, but you beat me to it. They must be really loaded-sure we can EASILY buy a resturaunt. It looks great by the way.

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  5. I loved Jessica wheedling her way into the flower girl position :), so cute! I'm glad Caterina and Julian are happy, everyone deserves a chance at that. Max and Zaria must really be well-off to be able to afford to buy a restaurant straight out! Must be nice!

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  6. Oh I did enjoy that evil Collete, but Julian has always been my fav. <3 I may pout and think you're mean when you kill him off, just warning now. :p

    But I do like seniors that find someone after their spouses have passed, so I think it's super sweet that Caterina and Julian found one another.

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  7. I'm glad Max is okay about his mom dating again. It has been longer for him though since his other parent died, so it makes sense that he would accept it easier than Kirstin would.

    Jessica and her little friends are so cute! I hope they manage to stay best friends all their lives. :) And I love that she convinced Aunt Olivia to have a flower girl, lol!

    I'm really excited to see Elspeth become a teen!

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  8. Sari, oooh, I hope I don't disappoint then! LOL. Finn and Victoria's is coming up first (really soon, too, I just realised!)

    I like Caterina and Julian together too. They're very sweet - they roll lots of wants for each other.

    Apple Valley, LOL, yeah, I figured I'd beat you all to it! Max and Zaria are very, very rich. I haven't done taxes yet this round (today, if I get time) but they usually make the top 3 richest.

    Mizzgin03, yeah, now I have to find a dress for Jessica! I might choose her dress and work around that for the bridesmaids! LOL.

    Max and Zaria have around three quarters of a million. So they're living on easy street, definitely!

    Maisie, well, Julian will have to die eventually. :( But he's got a good few years left in him yet.

    I hardly ever do the elder romance thing but I'm enjoying it with Caterina and Julian.

    Shana, yeah, Ben's been gone a long time, so his mother dating again might have been something he had already considered and come to terms with. Maybe Kirstin will be able to be okay with it eventually too.

    Oh, me too! I love the lifelong friends I have in my game. Araminta and Magdalena, Ione, Lia and their whole gang. It's fun to watch them all grow up together.

    Not long now for teen Elspeth! I'm already a little scared for Henry and Araminta. She's such a feisty little thing. I don't think they were prepared for her when she was born. Ione and Finn are both so mild-mannered and sweet.

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  9. Yay for elder romance! Julian and Caterina are too cute! :) I adore watching Sims do tai chi badly! It's the funniest thing ever!

    Oooh, the restaurant looks amazing! So trendy and zen at the same time! I love it!

    LOL, I always have to prep beforehand for my weddings too, because yes, getting through a wedding itself is a whole event! You've got me excited though, I've got a couple non-playable weddings coming up and then Piper in the coming summer! Yay, I can't wait to find Piper a wedding dress! It's got to be just perfect for her too, so I might even have to modify one for her :)

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  10. Laura, bad tai chi is so much better than bad yoga. After you've seen them fall on their face once, that's about the end of the entertainment value!

    I can't take credit for the restaurant. It's pretty much as is, apart from the one painting I changed (I just hate most Maxis paintings and I always rip them out).

    Oooh, Piper's wedding! She'd be fun to shop for. I can't wait to see what you choose for her.

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