Narrated by Elspeth Romilly
My parents are both semi-retired now, which means for a good portion of the week, they're home all day.
Mum is taking full advantage of this by staying up all night, looking at the stars. She hasn't really done that since before she had us kids. I don't know how she's not like the living dead the next day.
About the only nights she gets to bed before 2 is when she has to watch Ione's kids the next day.
Ione didn't want to ask Mum but she and Evan can't afford a nanny 5 days a week, so they sort of had to.
Mum doesn't mind in the slightest. She loves babies and being a grandma.
Mum and Dad are both the same, in that way. They're still waiting for more grandkids.
I'm not as keen on babies as Mum and Dad are but I am really liking being an aunt lately, especially now that most of my nieces and nephews are past the nappy stage.
It's a great excuse to play with all the kiddie stuff at the playground, for one thing. I had to make sure Caitlin didn't fall off!
Aunts probably aren't supposed to have favourites but I do and it's definitely Caitlin!
She's so hilarious, or I guess, as hilarious as a 5 year-old can be.
When the whole family had a picnic in the park last weekend, Caitlin was telling me about school and how all the pre-schoolers were so tiny. She can't be more than an inch taller than any of them but she feels very grown up now!
I had to work on Mum and Dad a bit before they'd let me start dating Connor but I think they're finally okay with it now.
The one condition is that I'm only allowed out on dates on weekends.
Dad doesn't understand why it would be necessary to see Connor any more than that, seeing we see each other at school and I have plenty of other things I need to be doing.
I don't understand why he thinks up such lame rules but whatever. Connor likes to spend his weeknights studying, so I probably couldn't get him to take me out anyway.
When we do go out, Connor and I have a lot of fun together.
Connor can drive but we usually stay in Sullivan anyway and skate or hang out at the mall.
I really like Connor. Most of the time, I guess.
Other times, it's really obvious that we don't have much in common.
I think he's just as mystified by me as I am by him.
He's off in his own little world so often.
I'll start talking to him and I can't tell if he's ignoring me, if he doesn't know what to say or if he's just not paying attention again.
It's frustrating. I wonder why I bother sometimes.
He's never said anything but I know Josh would love it if I broke up with Connor. He made that pretty clear by the way he always frowns every time I mention Connor's name.
I've been friends with Josh since we were kids and we do get along really well. We're alike in a lot of ways and yeah, I think he's kind of cute too. But I just don't really like Josh that way.
Besides, I want us to stay friends, not start dating, break up and then never talk to each other again. I keep hoping he'll meet some other girl to take his mind off me but it hasn't happened yet.Extras:
I took so many pictures this session and most of them were pretty pointless! Here they are!
I just love it when couples take walks together. I guess Gordon looks a bit uncomfortable here because he's walking past his ex-girlfriend's parents' house - probably wishing Lia had chosen a different route!
Amar was a little hungry at the park. There was so much food and it was just sitting there, so he thought he'd just help himself!
I love Declan. He's such a little ham!
As is Caitlin. I don't think I have ever loved Sim kids as much as I love these two.
I almost used this one but Elspeth's fingers are going through Caitlin's shoulder. I probably could have fixed it with by adjusting their heights temporarily to the defaults but I didn't think of it until after I'd quit.
I set up a whole little picnic scene but it did not behave! Every time I tried to take a picture, part of the rug would disappear. Grrr. It was okay if I was zoomed in on a particular part, the problem only occurred when I was zoomed out like this.
But in the end, I didn't even end up using any of the close-up pics. I just love wasting time, apparently.
It's pretty cute though and I'm going to see if I can find an alternative to this rug disappearing business and try again another time.And now for some completely random spam!
Notes:- Title is from Fuzzy by Grant Lee Buffalo.
- I know I've mentioned some of my elder Sims being "semi-retired" before, so I might as well explain what that usually means. It either means a) they're at the top of their careers and thus have less work days per week or b) I'm letting them run out their vacation days before they officially retire. For Henry, it's A and for Araminta, it's B.
- Elspeth and Connor, I have mentioned before, have what must be the lowest attraction score possible without heading into neutral attraction territory. They have 1 attraction point. 1! Neither of them seem particularly interested in the other but Elspeth is keener than Connor is. Even on dates, it takes them forever to roll up any romantic wants for each other at all.
Sooo... I just lost my long, gushing I-heart-these-guys comment, but I wanted to say that:
ReplyDeleteI love Connor.
I love Elspeth.
Josh needs to step up his game.
Caitlin and Declan hopefully won't ever have evil inclinations, because they could totally take over the world.
...I love Elspeth!
I love the family picnic idea. I may use that one day. Where in the world did you get the bucket of fried chicken? it's absolutely perfect.
ReplyDeleteIt's a shame to say but I do have favorites...just about anything related to Finn and Victoria (aka Declan and Caitlin.
Is this all on a community lot? if so, how did you manage to place everything, or was this done before your brought the sims over?
I loved the family picnic! I've wanted that and picnic benches forever. I miss the picnic bench from TS1.
ReplyDeleteElspeth and Connor never really made much sense to me. But young love isn't known for making sense. I hope Josh finds a girl to at least date for a while.
I like your idea of semi retired. I always have them use up their vacation time but never thought of the top of the career as that.
Question, at what age do u change to elder. I was thinking if doing 62 since that's retirement in these parts but can't decide.
Thanks for reading!
ReplyDeleteRenegade, LOL, I'm glad you like them so much.
Connor is a very serious young man and Elspeth really isn't. I don't quite know what's drawn Elspeth to Connor. I guess hormones are a funny thing in the game too!
Ha, Caitlin and Declan take over the world! I wouldn't mind having such adorable dictators, I'll say that much. They're pretty nice kids too, so I think they'd use their powers for good!
rome_raven, ah, all the food on the rug came from Exnem Sims. It's all actually eatable too!
As for getting it all set up, I took the family down there, teleported in everyone else and used InSim to enable buy/build mode. The changes don't save but that suits me just fine, for this kind of thing.
I love Finn and Victoria's family too. I'm playing them next (right now actually, in the background!) and I'm very excited. :D
Maisie, oh, yeah, the picnic bench! Someone should make dining chairs that slot together like picnic benches. I bet someone talented could do it if they cloned the dining booth. Maybe I'll post a WCIF about that later!
Elspeth and Connor don't make any sense to me either but I guess Elspeth must see something we don't. Josh has such high chemistry with Elspeth - it's hard to get him interested in other girls! I may have to force it, lol, perhaps if another girl takes interest in him.
My Sims age to elder at 60. I used to do 62, for reasons I can no longer remember! But when I changed my aging the last time (for the final time!), I made it an even 60 instead. Retirement age is 65 here (and in Sullivan) but I find by the time my Sims get to their late 50s, I'm ready for them to become elders. I like finding out how long they're going to live, even though I get sad when I check and find they don't have that much time left!
I love these picnic pictures, though shame that the rug wouldn't do as told, CC can sometimes be like that.
ReplyDeleteAnother great update :)
ps. I am so sorry, but somehow my first comment dissapeared into some other post. Not sure what happened, all I know it shown in my feed readed that it is somewhere else than here :S
ReplyDeleteSorry about that. Iv been testing my new feed reader and still keep pushing wrong buttons.
Thanks for sharing the family picnic photos, it was/is a great idea! I like Elspeth and Conner together...even though they have such a low score and seem so akward, but then again, it's your first :p
ReplyDeleteI like the picnic a lot and you can't tell from the pics that the rug is misbehaving. I'll probably use that idea for my hood sometime.
ReplyDeleteElspeth and Connor really are an odd couple. I guess the old saying "opposites attract" isn't always true.
I like the idea of semi-retirement. I never remember to use my sims vacation days!
Declan and Caitlin are just too cute! I can see why Caitlin is Elspeth's favorite. :)
ReplyDeleteElspeth and Connor just don't seem like they have anything at all in common. I'm holding out hope that Josh's time will come and he'll be able to win her over. Or that maybe he finds another girl he likes and Elspeth gets jealous, lol!
I love the picnic. LOL at Amar's picnic crashing.
Elders with a lot of spare time, personally I think it's dangerous :) That's why I moved Larissa and Berend to the Ardens but I can't do it with all my elders. At least they have Elspeth to keep them on their toes :)
ReplyDeleteEven though you didn't use the pictures of the picnic, it still looked like a family)outing.
I can totally understand Elspeth liking Caitlin, because she's soooo adorable!!!
Lol at Elspeth on the kiddiestuff, I used to like it when my cousin was still little enought to play with barbies or anything, it was my excuse to play along :)
Elspeth and Connor don't seem to have much in common. Maybe there is hope for Josh, but he really should be looking around, so many cute sims in Sullivan!
This time I'm going to ask, wich posedbox did you use for Henry and Araminta?
Speechless, thank you! Yeah, I guess CC doesn't care that I'm trying to set up a shot, lol!
ReplyDeleteI found your first comment in the post titled Sleep If You Can. No need to apologise. It happens. :)
Apple Valley, you're welcome! Best laid plans and all that. ;)
This is true. First loves are rarely true loves anyway, or else I guess everyone would marry the first person they ever kissed. Elspeth and Connor will sort it out.
Sari, not in the close-ups, but you can in the picture of everyone. Where Elspeth is sitting (and everyone on her side), there is just shadow where the rug should be. It probably has something to do with snapobjects. Rugs are often a bit funny with that cheat.
Yeah, opposites are not quite attracting right now! Connor is a bit of an odd teen, like James was. When I play him, he doesn't really roll romantic wants. He'd probably rather Elspeth left him alone with his books. James didn't really show any interest in girls until college and I had to change his aspiration before I even found someone for him!
I figure the Sims worked for their vacation days, so I might as well let them use them. But I often let them build up to an insane level. I think Ione has about 11 right now!
Shana, I adore Declan and Caitlin! I was playing their lot last night and took way too many pictures. There'll be more spam when I do that post, I'm sure of it.
I can see Elspeth getting jealous if Josh finds somebody else! I think on some level, she kind of likes that he fawns over her.
Tanja, very true! Elders can get boring with too little to do. I'm getting better at empty nesters though, so I'm not too worried. Elspeth keeps things interesting but she'll likely go off to college eventually.
Caitlin is great. I was playing her last night and found myself hoping that all her kids look like her. I would love to have mini-Caitlins wandering around the hood!
Ha, me too - where do you think I got that idea? I'm the oldest sister and the oldest cousin, so I had many years of getting to play with Barbies and Lego!
There are definitely a lot of cute Sims around for Josh, if he'd swivel his head away from Elspeth for a second! ;)
Not absolutely positive about that pose box but I think it's by Tuomas? If you check the list at GOS, I don't think there are that many Tuomas ones, so you might be able to find it quite easily.
Could Caitlin and Declan be any cuter?! I love the picnic idea, although I'm much too lazy to do it myself lol. Gorgeous pics as always :)......I think Elspeth is going to break a few hearts before she settles with the right guy, Connor being the first! I'm with her though, I would hate for her and Josh to date and it ruin their friendship
ReplyDeleteMizzgin03, no, I don't think they could be. I have a Finn and Victoria update coming up today and it was so hard to pare down the pics!
ReplyDeleteI can see Elspeth being a bit of a heartbreaker. I think Josh's heart is already broken (or at least a bit sore!) and it looks like Connor is heading the same way. Though I don't know how much Connor would care, considering how many wants he rolls for her!
The pictures age great! I'm so glad you included all the ones you didn't use!
ReplyDeleteRe the picnic bench, I have one that I downloaded somewhere, it includes an invisible recolor of a dining chair... You place the bench (table) then use move_objects on to put a couple of invisible chairs over the bench on either side... it looks a little strange as the sims sit down, but once they're seated it works fine. Will try to figure out where I got it from...
1 attraction point?!? Lol... no wonder they don't feel like they have anything in common!
Blackcat, thanks! I usually include a bit of spam if I end up with a ton of nice pictures I don't get to use.
ReplyDeleteI would love to get my hands on that picnic bench, if you remember where you got it from! It sounds like just what I need!
And yes...Connor and Elspeth are a very odd pair!
Found the picnic bench!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.drealm.info/simlogical/sl/Sims2Pages/Sims2_Furnishing.htm
You also have to download a little patch for your game... but I think that's ok, I've never noticed any problems with any seats after having it in here.
Thanks for the link! I can't believe I've never seen that before. I do already have that patch though, so no problems there. :)
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to Araminta watching Ione's kids, is that something you actually do? Is there a hack for that? I remember seeing something at MTS for calling over neighborhood babysitters, but I think it was something that was never updated.
ReplyDeleteAlso, a picnic! Too bad parts of the blanket disappeared, but that all looks very cute. How fun is that!
And Elspeth, lol! She always kills me. It seems like she's just liking the idea of acting adult and having a boyfriend. That's pretty fitting.
Lunar, sigh, sadly no! It's all smoke and mirrors! There's a Squinge hack that enables to "Ask To Watch Kids" interaction on non-apartment lots but that never worked for me. I almost got Tate and Trent taken by the social worker when they were toddlers when I decided to try out that hack!
ReplyDeleteI think Elspeth is exactly the kind of girl who'd be more keen on the idea of a boyfriend than actually having one. She's very bold and outgoing and she's got two much older siblings, and she probably feels quite left behind by them sometimes.
LOL Elspeth is too cute. I love her little attitude. Yea, I can definitely see that she and Connor aren't a match made in heaven. I bet they're both like "what was I thinking?" LOL I'm with you on playing with the younger cousins and stuff. That was me too. That fits Elspeth to a T. And how can she not have Caitlin as a favorite!
ReplyDeleteThat sucks that the picnic didn't work out as planned but glad you shared the pics. I didn't even think of setting up picnics. And toddlers are too cute riding on those little rides. That reminds me that I still need a playground for kids.
Danielle, I've been confused by Elspeth and Connor ever since she decided to kiss him at school. I thought "Really?" They're going about as well as a couple as I thought they would!
ReplyDeleteLOL, a playground was one of the first community lots I built for Sullivan! I just had to get all that play equipment in there. It's all so cute!