Sunday 15 August 2010

Dry the rain

Round 28: Spring 2027
Narrated by Max Nihill

After Mum got married and moved out, I thought Zaria and I might finally be able to really enjoy our days off while the kids were at school. I think that lasted around three weeks.

Mum moving out left us with a spare bedroom. It didn't even occur to me to try to fill it but Zaria had other ideas. I almost thought she wanted another baby but we're both on the same page there. Instead, she wanted Kit to move in with us.

Zaria's been worried about her mother living "all on her own" in Exeter. Asha's right across the road so I can't say I understood why Zaria was so concerned about her.

Honestly, I just wasn't keen on living with my mother-in-law but after Zaria pointed out that she'd lived with her mother-in-law for 20 years, I didn't really have a good reason to say no.

And so Kit moved in with us. She accepted the invitation pretty readily, which makes me think she was probably a little more lonely than she let on, living on her own.

It actually hasn't been so bad. As far as mothers-in-law go, Kit is a good one. I knew that already but I was still dreading the idea of living together. So far, so good.

Kit brought her little dog, Zack, with her. I think Jessica might have been more excited about having another dog living with us than she was about her grandma. Jessica loves animals. She's been begging us for another dog or a cat for a long time now.

Jessica loves having Kit with us as well though. She's been missing Mum quite a bit.

We still see Mum a lot, though it's obviously not the same as living in the same house. We have get-togethers most weekends.

It's definitely Jessica's favourite time of the week.

The more people she has to show off to, the happier she is. We've all seen her handstands dozens of times but we still have to watch every time.

Since Asha and Olivia both had babies a few months ago, the weekends are usually fairly baby-centric.

Asha and Olivia are close friends, so they're already trying to make Ruby and Ramona best buddies as well. They're probably a little young to care right now.

Josh isn't too interested in Ruby or Ramona, despite the fact that they're his first cousins ever. I probably wouldn't have cared at his age either. Jessica's enthusiasm more than makes up for Josh though!

To get two baby cousins at the same time, and two baby girls at that, has just been the biggest thrill for Jessica.

We're usually just thankful if Josh even chooses to come downstairs when we have family over.

Josh is a little bit moody lately. He's usually a pretty talkative kid but he has to be prompted to talk lately.

He spends most of his time in his bedroom. He comes downstairs to eat and go to school.

After talking to Josh, I'm not too worried. He's got a girl problem.

He really likes his friend Elspeth but she's decided she likes another boy instead.

Josh just assumed that seeing they were already such good friends, Elspeth would naturally want to date him.

It hasn't worked out that way for him though. They're still hanging out but only as friends.

Josh says she seems completely oblivious to the fact that he still likes her. He's pretty down about the whole thing.

I took Josh into the Front Page one afternoon, to take his mind off Elspeth.

Well, secretly, I was also hoping he'd take an interest in the cafe. I'd love to pass it down to him some day. I don't think Josh is going to be a chef any time soon. He did what I asked him to but there's just no love for it there.

He was much more interested in checking out the female patrons than anything to do with food.

Jessica though...well, maybe she'll be interested some day!

She seems to show more interest in cuisine than the average little girl does. Her friends Lauren and Emma came over for a sleepover and Jessica wanted me to make them all filet mignon for dinner!

I'm not going to push her into anything. Jessica's still little and is having so much fun in the slumber party stage. But it'd be nice to keep the cafe in the family.


Outtakes:RIP Pachyderm! I thought I'd commemorate this, because my Sims so rarely seem to care when their pets die, if they're asleep at the time. But Zaria jumped out of bed to go and mourn him, at 3am. :( They still have Zack but he's an elder now too.

I just love Jessica! I'm always a bit sad when my Sims earn enough body points so they don't do dive bombs any more, even though the graceful diving is also very cool.

Just a few extra pics of the family get together. I love Caterina telling absolutely everyone about her damn holiday. I believe the last time she went away, Max was a toddler. But hey, Luc's never been on holiday, so he'll listen anyway.

Notes:

  • Title is from Dry the Rain by The Beta Band.
  • I miss Kit and she's retired now, so I decided to move her into Caterina's old bedroom. I'm getting better with the whole empty nester thing but I don't know that I'm ready to play a single elder. Snooze! Anyway, Kit rolls up wants for her grandkids all the time, so it'll be nice for her to be with them more often. When I first moved her in, she wanted to play with and cuddle Ruby...and they hadn't even met yet! I'm such a sucker for that kind of thing.
  • Poor Josh. I loaded up the lot and he had the want to go steady with Elspeth. It rolled away but he wasn't rolling up many other attainable wants, so his aspiration is really low. Well...it's in the low green, which is pretty low for my Sims!
  • I somehow forgot Jessica's hobby was Cuisine. I like to keep the businesses in the family where I can, so this should work out well.

12 comments:

  1. Yay, Kit moved in and I love that idea and the family get together was cute.

    Aww, the I loved the slumber party and how cute is Emma's ruffled shirt and Jessica little flower shoes! Love those to pieces.

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  2. I'm glad Kit moved in. Though it was pretty funny how Max was looking forward to alone time and Zaria had other ideas. How sweet is Jessica with her cousins! I think it's great she loves cuisine so she can keep the biz in the family.

    Poor Josh. Hey it may work out later in life might be better in the long run that they don't burn their friendship now with young love. Not everyone can be Victoria and Finn.

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  3. Apple Valley, any excuse for a family get together is a good one in my books!

    I find that good kids'clothing is such a rarity, so I snap it up whenever I see it! Emma's outfit is from fakepeeps7 at MTS and I think Jessica's dress might be LianaSims or AnnaMariaSims.

    Maisie, the Royce girls had always made sure their mum is taken care of, so it made sense for Kit to move in with one of them. Zaria's in a better position for that right now, seeing she's not in the midst of wedding planning or up to her elbows in dirty nappies like Asha is!

    Very true about these young couples! Victoria and Finn are more of an exception than a rule. :)

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  4. Ha, I loved Zaria pointing out that she has been living with her MIL for 20 years. Can't really argue with that. It's great to be seeing more of Kit now.

    I love the family get togethers and this wasn't an exception. The babies are so cute, I know they're all identical but I swear some sim babies are cuter than others LOL.

    Yay for Jessica being interested in Cuisine. I had forgotten that Max even owned a restaurant! I guess I should read those yellow pages again.

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  5. I laughed at the whole mother-in-law thing. Glad that they're getting a long though. Some mother in laws are bad, Kit doesn't seem to be one of those.
    Aww... poor Josh. Guess we'll see what the future holds.
    Jessica seems to be the perfect little girl! So friendly and caring.

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  6. Yay, I missed Kit! I think you should open a retirement home for all your empty nesters.

    Little girls eating filet mignon... That Jessica sure has a future in cooking.

    I used to hope Josh and Elspeth would end up together, but ever since the whole love letter thing, I'm kind of hoping she'd stay with Connor. Sorry Josh...

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  7. Sari, LOL, yeah. So Max can just deal. Kit was on her way to becoming the MIL from hell with Luc there for a while (that's all smoothed over) but she never had much of a problem with Max anyway.

    I agree, did you see the picture I posted on Twitter? Ruby is cuter than other babies. I'm convinced!

    Max only bought the restaurant last round, so he hasn't owned it very long. I'm not surprised you forgot.

    gallowaytownship, yeah, Kit's a good egg. She even likes Luc now!

    Jessica is a lovely little thing, as is Lauren. It's a pity they're not rubbing off on Emma!

    Flit, oh no, that won't be happening! I've done the retirement home thing before and was bored to tears. I think I'd actually rather play them on their own than in a retirement home. It's easier to focus on each set of kids and grandkids that way anyway.

    Elspeth and Connor, eh? I'll confess that I don't know how long they'll last. The chemistry is mind-boggling low. Definitely the lowest I've ever seen in the game. But couples have overcome low chemistry before, so we'll see what happens with them.

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  8. Olivia and Asha are too cute. Haha. I had a friend share some pics of her baby having a play date with another friend's baby. It's cute because it's rarely for the benefit of the kid really. They sort of just look at each other like, "Did you plan this? I didn't."

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  9. Living with your mother-in-law, I can't imagine being it an easy job, but Zaria has a point, she did it for some years.
    I like the picutre where Asha and Olivia show their babies to each other.
    Poor Josh, so hung up on Elpeth, I don't think it's easy when they still hang out together, but maybe it beats not seeing her at all.
    Jessica's sleepover seems so sweet.
    I love their house by the way!

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  10. Lunar, LOL, yes, three of my friends do the same thing with their babies and the kids just don't care. One of them is four weeks old, so I can hardly blame her. Even the 18 month old has little interest though! But it greatly entertains their mothers!

    Tanja, I guess it would greatly depend on what your MIL was like. Zaria was pretty lucky with Caterina and Max has it pretty good with Kit. Megan would be a much more difficult mother-in-law!

    I don't think it's easy for Josh to see Elspeth, especially not to see her with Connor but he likes her a lot as a friend too, even though he'd like to be more.

    And thanks. I downloaded the house but I decorated it myself.

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  11. I love how the Royce girls make sure their mom is taken care of. And I'm glad she brought up the fact that she'd be living with her MIL, too. Sucks that they won't have any alone time, though. I have a friend dealing with that right now. First her MIL was living with them, but she moved out and now her brother-in-law and her niece live there. They get NO privacy.

    Jessica is too cute and I loved seeing her with her friends (there's Emma!) And loved seeing Ruby and Ramona (and Olivia's dress is so cute!) Looks like the family get together was great. Poor Josh. Been there buddy! It'll get better in time, lol.

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  12. Danielle, I think that's a daughter thing and it also seems typical when it's the only parent you have left. Kit is pretty set for life now. :) Even though Max and Zaria don't have much privacy. Hey, with Community Lot Time, I can have Kit take the kids out and give Max and Zaria some actual alone time!

    Josh is in a position that so many have been in before and it's not an enviable one. I'm just doing as always - watching their wants and seeing what happens. :)

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