Wednesday 16 March 2011

Shutterbug

Round 30: June 2032 (Winter)

last update/next update

Tate Benton is 62 and Zelda is 57.
(Josie is 30, Troy is 29, Charlie and Jack are both 20, Sophie and Camilla are both 19, Grace and Everett are both 2)

Narrated by Tate Benton

Since Grace and Everett were born, Zelda and I have been visiting Charlie and Camilla on campus at least once a week.

Grace and Everett weren't born into the best of circumstances but I can't say I haven't enjoyed getting to know them and being a grandfather.

They really are such sweet kids. I can't wait for Charlie and Camilla to move back to Sullivan so I can see them all more often.

Zelda has reallly taken to being a grandparent as well. She never really got over wanting another baby and I think Grace and Everett have helped fill that void for her.

Charlie has adapted quite well to fatherhood, considering he's barely out of his teens.

He's never been the most focused guy in the world, so I'm proud of how much he's grown up.

Now that he's getting used to being a parent, I just wish he'd nail down some realistic ideas for his future career.

Charlie still has ideas about going into entertainment and he just doesn't see why I don't think that's such a great plan.

That would have been all well and good before the kids came along but he has a family to support now. He needs something more stable.

I think he'd be better off doing what Zelda did. Get a regular job and then later on, once he's in a better position to do so, he can quit and do what he really wants to do.

It worked out well for Zelda. She's doing extremely well with her novels now but we couldn't have lived on that income when she was first starting out.
Zelda has spoken to him about it as well, so I hope he at least considers what we've said.

I'm hoping Charlie and Camilla will make things official and get engaged. I don't expect them to get married while they're still in college but it would be nice to know it's in the works.

Zelda still won't let me say anything to Charlie about it though. She feels the opposite way to me and would rather that they not even think about marriage for a good while.

We don't visit Jack at his dorm, because it's fairly easy for him to just hop on the train and come back home on the weekend.

Jack brought his girlfriend Sophie with him last time he visited and it's amazing how seemingly carefree their lives are, compared to Camilla and Charlie's. They just have to go to class and the rest of their time is completely theirs.

Sophie's just made plans to go on spring break. She and some of the other kids are going camping at the beach.

She's been trying to convince Jack to come along but he thinks it's going to be a big party the whole time, which he's never really been into. He keeps saying he'd rather stay on campus and relax for their break.

I got the impression it was a bit of a sore spot between them, so I quickly changed the subject.

I've asked Jack if he would like to take over the restaurant once he's out of college. Maybe not once he's fresh out but eventually.

I love it now but I'm not going to be able to do it forever.

I could just sell it but I put a lot of money and work into doing it up when I first bought it. I'd rather it stay in the family.

Jack doesn't think he'll take as active a role in the restaurant as I do but he's interested.

I'm so relieved. It'll be in good hands. Jack is the best choice, really, if I want the restaurant to stay in the family. I wanted one of the kids to have it but I didn't want to place it on Charlie's shoulders. I know Josie wouldn't be interested either.

Josie really loves being a doctor. She's just started her maternity leave, as she's due any day now, and she's already missing the hospital.

She's bored out of her skull at home, so she visits a lot more often now. When I get home from work, she's usually here.

Josie hasn't especially enjoyed pregnancy. She had bad morning sickness in first trimester, has had insomnia since her second and now she's experiencing a lot of back pain.
Zelda has told her it's all normal and that she went through the same things but Josie's pretty miserable.

She can't wait to get that baby out of there and is beginning to wonder why anyone would choose to go through pregnancy a second time.

Zelda's trying to keep her spirits up. She's so close to the end now and once the baby is here, she might feel differently about getting pregnant again. At least, Zelda and I hope so! We'd like to get a couple more grandkids out of Josie and Troy.

This is so different to Camilla's pregnancy. We weren't exactly excited about that. Zelda and I (and I know Camilla's parents as well) just worried through the whole nine months. We still worry.
But then Josie and Troy are in a completely different situation. They've been together for ten years, they're married, they have a house. We just aren't worried about Josie like we were about Charlie.

It's very nice to have this to look forward to. I really hope to have a whole load of grandchildren one day.

Now that it's just Zelda and me in the house, the place feels so much bigger. Too big, I think.

I'd like to downsize and get a smaller house with a bigger backyard. This place is huge but there's no garden in the back at all.

Zelda is hesitant though. She's saying it'll be nice to have a big place for the grandkids but I think she's mainly reluctant to leave the house we raised the kids in.

I guess it's not something we need to make up our minds about right away. We have plenty of other things to occupy our minds at the moment.

Notes:
  • Title is from Shutterbug by Veruca Salt.
  • This update was such a pain in the ass and I finally just had to get it out there, so I could was my hands of it! All the Sims fought me at every single turn every time I tried to pose them. Gah. I had a bunch of shots of Josie and Troy and they pretty much all turned out rubbish. :\ I'm hoping I have an easier time with Rob and Patience.
  • No joke, Zelda is 57 years old and she rolled up the want for a baby! Nuts! But it rolled away when she visited the twins.
  • Josie has already had her baby in game, which satisfied Tate's "Get a Grandchild" want. He hasn't even met the baby yet but he's already rolled up the same want again. So Tate and Zelda are both kind of nuts. ;)
  • I can't see Jack enjoying a big trip with a large group of people. He's a Popularity Sim but he's an odd one. He doesn't get a ton of party wants, nor does he get the want to make friends with every single person he meets. He's Outgoing, so it's not that; I just think he's the kind of person who prefers to be one-on-one or in smaller groups with his friends. Other than that, I'm still figuring out how I'm going to do this spring break ROS (who'd have thought I could make such a simple ROS so complicated?) I have so many students right now and they can't all go.

15 comments:

  1. Everytime I see Jack, his face strikes me as familar, and now I know why. Xie-Belle/TheAliceCat uses that face template a lot:

    http://www.digitalperversion.net/gardenofshadows/index.php?topic=17356.0

    see "Copper"

    I wonder if Tate will convince Zelda to move to a smaller place, I can't wait to see what they decide on.

    Good luck with the spring break ROS. I love spring breaks for my college kiddos, I do them a bit more often and I don't take them all. To make things easier, I usually have one person travel to the vacation lot, then teleport everyone else in-especially if they're not living on the same lot.

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  2. Apple Valley, hmmm, there's a similarity there but I don't think they're the same template. Jack's eyes and mouth seem smaller to me. Maybe it's the angle?

    I think I will move this family. Their next house will probably still be largish though. Zelda needs an office and I think I'd like them to have a guest room. And they are the richest family in Sullivan, so it seems fitting. ;)

    Oh, that's a good idea to just send one Sim and teleport in everybody else! I think the spring break will be a lot of fun once I get everything sorted out. I don't think I've done it since Tate was in college!

    Thanks for reading!

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  3. I'm completely with Tate on this one, I definatly want to see more children of Troy and Josie, even though I haven't met this one! :)

    Maybe the house is getting a little bit too big for just the 2 of them, but there are so many memories there, so it's understandable that Zelda has her doubts, but I'm sure she will see the point in moving eventually.
    I can't wait to see their new house :)

    I'm looking forward to the spring break, and what you're going to do with it!

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  4. It has to be hard for Tate to have invested so much of his time and his energy and his passion in a project like his restaurant and not see it in his children. Jack seems to be making an effort to give him something positive, something to hope for.

    Although the house may be too big, I can understand why Zelda is reluctant to move. Memories are important. If they can wait, perhaps it would be best.

    I love those twins!

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  5. I can't believe the twins are already 2. Weren't they just in-utereo? They are quite precious.

    It's a shame that Charlie won't be able to just live out his dreams like any 19-year-old would want to because of his little family. Perhaps he might be able to find a way to make it work?

    I feel badly for Josie. She's so uncomfortable and in pain and the worse part of it is that she hasn't even gone through labor yet.

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  6. Tanja, LOL! Troy will likely be with Tate on this one as well. I doubt he will want to stop at one.

    I think I will move them but honestly, I'm feeling a bit like Zelda at the moment! So I'm not positive.

    Thanks for reading!

    S.B., it is. None of his kids are as passionate about food as he is, so he's going to have to be satisfied with as much as Jack is willing to pour into it. He'll take care of it though and maybe one of Tate's grandkids will want to take a more active role one day.

    As I said to Tanja, I'm still thinking over selling the house. I really love it myself.

    The twins are so adorable. Love them!

    Thanks for reading!

    Choco, Grace and Everett do seem to have grown up fast, don't they?

    Charlie is just beginning to discover that there are definitely sacrifices he'll have to make for his kids now. It might still be possible but it will be a lot harder for him.

    It's all over for Josie now. I think she was probably grateful for labour, as uncomfortable as her pregnancy was. It's a lot shorter than pregnancy, at least. ;)

    Thanks for reading!

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  7. Heads up, before I forget! Teleporting sims onto a vacation lot gets them stuck! That's how I lost SO many households this past summer... McCarthys, Londons, and Grimsleys, when I did the student summer trip. Much better to bring people there properly.

    The *only* time I haven't had an issue with this is if I "restore" a family member. For instance I brought the Grimsley's on a vacation, and "restored" with the teleporter, Holden, and it wasn't a big deal.

    To get them back, I had to import/add to family each person that was stuck so their houses were empty, and I lost all their belongings. I'm guessing Sim Logical bush would help with that.

    =----

    And the update! It's exciting to see how much these two enjoy their grandkids, and are hopeful for more. Zelda is a little nuts wanting another one at her age. I love the pictures of Grace and Everett, too cute! I like the idea of Jack taking over the business, that'll be nice. I wonder what will happen with Sophie and Jack... there is a large difference in lives of Charlie and Jack, I like how this family has grown up, and how their decisions have given them the life they have. All three are *so* different from the next.

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  8. The twins are super cute! I can't believe they're 2 already. I guess Charlie is finally waking up to the harsh reality of being a dad and hopefully realizes that he might have to sacrifice his own dreams at least for now. It's a good thing that he has his parents talking some sense to him.

    It's nice that Jack's gonna take on the restaurant one day. It would be difficult for Tate to give it up to some stranger with all the time and money he's invested in it.

    I understand how Zelda (and you) feel about the house. It might be too big for them now but it's really hard to move out of their home.

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  9. Maisie, oh, really? I've teleported Sims in before with no problems at all. Did you save the households while you were on vacation? That's the thing I'm scared of, because I've had a lot of issues with that. Maybe I'll just move the vacation Sims onto their own lot and use restore trick, so I don't have to do any teleporting. Thanks for the advice, I'll have a think about it!

    LOL, I know, Zelda's always been nuts for that fourth child! I'm expecting the want to roll up again at some stage. ;)

    Jack is the only choice for the restaurant, which actually works out well. He wants to go into business when he finishes college, so he'll be able to manage the economic side of it pretty well.

    It's funny how three kids raised under the same roof can have such vastly different lives.

    Thanks for reading!

    Sari, it's only now that Charlie is realising some more things he's had to give up for the twins. I'll touch on that more in Camilla and Charlie's update this year.

    Tate definitely wouldn't have wanted to hand the Grub Hub off to a stranger. He's too personally invested in it. Jack probably could though, so Tate might have to have a chat with him about finding a family member to take over, when the time comes!

    With me with Sims and the houses, it depends. Sometimes I move them happily (Emil and Anna) because I'm not thrilled with their current house but sometimes I really drag my feet! This house is a sentimental favourite for me. And Zelda. ;)

    Thanks for reading!

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  10. Aw Jack! I love him more and more each update. Funny the whole aspiration vs. character personality thing. I can so see that. He'd probably be the sort of guy to hang around drinking in kitchens with good friends, lol.

    Zelda and Tate are kind of nuts. But Charlie is such a cute dad. Who expected that?

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  11. Lunar, yeah, Jack's definitely more of a beer in the kitchen guy at parties! Sophie is Pleasure but she's definitely more the type who likes to be in the centre of it all.

    Charlie is adorable as a father. A bit clueless at times but adorable nonetheless!

    Thanks for reading!

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  12. Hmm..so Zelda would rather Charlie and Camilla wait to discuss marriage? That's very interesting. I wonder if she has reservations about how well it would work out in the long run?

    LOL, Josie sounds almost exactly like I do regarding pregnancy. I whine too much. :)

    I can see why Sophie would be hurt that Jack doesn't want to accompany her to the beach, but at the same time I wouldn't want to do something like that either, with so many people. I'm interested to see how this turns out!

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  13. Rachel, I think Zelda just doesn't know, really. She would have some doubts, definitely. Unlike Tate though, she doesn't see a reason why they need to rush into anything. Grace and Everett are here, they're being taken care of and and marriage will come when and if does.

    I'm pretty sure that's how I'd be during pregnancy! I whine about everything else!

    As for Jack, Sophie is hurt and I can actually see that being enough reason for Jack to cave and go. It's definitely not something he'd enjoy though. I'm still deciding who'll go and I just realised how soon it is!

    Thanks for reading!

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  14. I finally have a minute to catch up! It's so nice to see Grace and Everett. They're so sweet looking. I pretty much ditto what everyone else has already said and agree with Zelda. Charlie and Camilla shouldn't rush into marriage unless they're really sure. And glad that one of their kids will be taking over the Grub Hub.

    I was thinking of moving Helen and Jeff Reid, too. Their house is way too big and I don't see any of their kids moving back with them after college. I just haven't found the perfect house for them yet. But Tate and Zelda are much different than my Reids. They raised their kids in their home while my sims didn't. Tough decision!

    Can't wait to see what you do with spring break! I'm definitely with Jack. I'd rather hang with my small group of close friends than be with a whole bunch of strangers/acquaintances.

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  15. Danielle, Grace and Everett are definite cuties, whose parents will be "living in sin" for a while yet. Tate's a traditionalist, so it's not what he'd prefer for his son but he'll have to deal. ;)

    I'm still umming and aahing over moving Tate and Zelda! I'm so indecisive but I've decided to leave them for at least one more round.

    Yeah, I'm more like Jack as well. Spring break is not something I would have wanted to go on a big trip for. I didn't go to our equivalent version either, at the end of high school.

    Thanks for reading!

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