Saturday 7 January 2012

Airbag

Round 32: October 2036 (Spring)
last update/next update

Rose and Joanna Draper are both 41, Sylvia is 10 and Will and Levi are both 4.
(Amelia is 47, Wade is 46, Patience is 34 and Alice is 10)

Narrated by Rose Draper

Patience is due in just a couple of weeks now and I’m so excited for her and Rob.

Thank goodness this pregnancy has been relatively smooth-sailing, even with the inevitable stress of moving. I think I would have had the baby sleeping in the living room before I’d move while pregnant!

Patience thinks it was worth it though. She and Rob both earn good money and they were happy to pour it into buying their dream home.

Sylvia thought our house was huge when we moved in but she couldn’t believe the size of Patience’s place. It’s seriously enormous and there’s plenty of room for her to run around torturing her brothers.

Rob and Patience are thrilled with their new place but Patience says she’ll be even happier once they have a baby occupying that nursery. She's pretty keen for the baby to arrive already!

Joanna and I very briefly discussed having another baby. I was still having some urges to add to our family but she was fairly adamant that she was done.

It didn’t take long for me to come around to the idea either. I don’t really want to be pregnant again, or go through the whole adoption or insemination process.

It was worth it, to have the children we have now but I feel done now. Three kids is enough and I can’t really imagine having another baby.

I have time to myself now, for one thing. I can get out in the garden again, at long last. That was almost impossible, with two toddlers wanting attention.

The worst thing about moving here was leaving my vegetable patch behind but now I’ve got another one going in the yard. I can’t wait to have fresh strawberries to pick.

Will and Levi are often outside when I’m out there but they’re never too interested in what I’m doing.

They’re making lots of friends at school and they always seem to have one boy or another over.

None of our kids seem to have Joanna’s hermit tendencies; they’re all extremely social.

Levi and Will are still only pre-schoolers, so they still like hanging out with their parents a lot as well.

We should probably enjoy it while it lasts, if Sylvia is anything to go by.

She’s 10 and we’re both already complete embarrassments to her.

If we go out together as a family, Sylvia is always a few steps behind, pretending she doesn’t have parents.

When she gets sulky like that, we just ignore it and go about our business. I think we’ll probably be in for a really interesting time when Sylvia is a teenager though!

It’s hard to believe Sylvia is so grown-up now though. I sometimes still see her as the little baby we adopted all those years ago.

She is still very close to her friend Alice, who comes over most afternoons after school.

Alice and Sylvia also spend a good chunk of their weekends together as well. They’re both very indoorsy types and they’ve always got along so well.

It’s almost like Alice lives here sometimes. Her parents both work nights, so she ends up joining us for dinner a couple of times a week.

Previously, Alice and Sylvia spent most of their time reading together but they seem to do more gossiping than anything else these days.

I hope it’s all innocent and in good fun but I’m not allowed to know.

If I walk into the room, they both clam up pretty quickly. If I ask what they were talking about, they only ever respond with “nothing”.

I guess Sylvia’s getting close to that age where she doesn’t want us to know every single thing about her. She was so horrified by the prospect of starting high school and having Joanna be around all day.

She was convinced all the other kids would tease her for being the teacher’s daughter and that Joanna’s mere presence would make things hell for her.

Joanna tried reassuring her that plenty of teachers’ kids have been through the school unscathed but Sylvia wasn’t convinced.

As it turns out though, it won’t be an issue anyway. Joanna has decided to quit teaching and won't be at the school by the time Sylvia starts in 2038.

Joanna is a woman who likes to challenge herself and after almost 20 years of teaching, it’s no longer much of a challenge for her.

She’s also feeling a little burnt out after dealing with bratty teenagers for so many years.

I was surprised but not worried. I could support the family on my own for a while, if need be, but I knew Joanna wouldn’t make a decision like this unless she had a plan for what to do next.

And of course, I was right. Joanna wants to put her biology degree to good use and find work in natural science.

It’s the same field her brother works in and when we met up with Amelia and Wade that weekend, he and Joanna talked about little else.

It was a little boring for me and Amelia, I have to admit.

According to Wade though, it sounds like Joanna might have a good chance at getting a job fairly quickly.

I hope he’s right. Joanna is going to see out the school year, so she has a few months to find something.

Wade has promised he’ll keep an eye out for any positions at the lab he works at and recommend Joanna if he sees anything that might suit her.

So there’s that, and Joanna is doing her own job search as well, through more traditional means.

Ideally, she’d like to finish the year, have a couple of weeks’ break and then go right into her new job. Nothing has turned up yet but Joanna is feeling really confident about her chances.

Notes:
  • Title is from Airbag by Radiohead.
  • I don't know what Will is doing in that second last picture! It kind of reminded me of this Family Guy clip (and I bet if you've seen that clip before, you know exactly the one I'm talking about).
  • This was Sylvia's last round as a child but she's already developing some teenage tendencies. She was a real moody little thing this round!
  • Rose has the skills and job performance to be promoted to Media Magnate but hasn't progressed, for some reason. Abigail is a Media Magnate, so is that a Harder Jobs thing? That Rose won't be promoted while someone else is occupying the top spot? I have three Education Ministers, so it seems like an odd quirk of the mod, if so.
  • The third Education Minister would be Joanna, who reached it just this round. I decided she's not the kind of woman to rest on her laurels at all though, so I'm letting her go for her LTW, which is to reach the top of the natural science career. I can't remember why I didn't let her do it in the first place. I think I might have just needed a teacher. But anyway, I imagine she'll be able to climb the ladder pretty fast, given her skills are maxed out. ;)

18 comments:

  1. Wow, it doesn't surprise me that she is ready to move on so quickly. She's so smart-didn't she graduate early?

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  2. Apple Valley, yes, she did. Joanna maxed out her skills in her junior year of college, so I let her graduate a year early and go travelling. She appreciates an intellectual challenge, so I think she'll find a new job, in a new field, very fulfilling.

    Thanks for reading!

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  3. Heh, I love pre-teens. Or well, in sims form anyway. :) The shame you can feel during those years is pretty amusing now in retrospect.

    Yay for new job! Challenging yourself is always good.

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  4. simnovoris, yes, pre-teens aren't quite as much fun when you have to deal with them yourself! I shudder to think what I was like back then!

    Joanna definitely agrees about challenging yourself. It makes me wonder how she'll take it if one of her kids decides to skip college!

    Thanks for reading!

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  5. Whoa Sylvia lol, she going to be a little snapper huh?
    Hmm that is very interesting about Rose not being able to get promoted to the top spot. I did read up on the harder jobs hack, and that is one of the quirks of the mod. So that not everyone can get the top spot. Seems very realistic, I don't have this mod, not sure if I'm going to get it either, I've been having terrible luck in every hood I've tried to create and had to result to redownloading everything and start complete from scratch again..:(
    Joanna, wow I'm so use to her being a teacher now lol, so who will get her spot in the school? I wish Joanna all the luck in her new job.
    The twin boys are such cuties!!
    Great update!

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  6. Nicky, I think she just might be, especially when she gets into the teenage years!

    Yeah, I thought that might have been a side effect of Harder Jobs. The idea of it makes sense to me but not with this particular career. I mean, why can I not have more than one media magnate but I can have three education ministers? It's more believable that there'd be two media magnates than three education ministers. If I knew anything about hacking, I'd probably try to fix that. I hope your new hood is the one that "sticks" for you though.

    No one will have Joanna's spot yet officially, though if I find I need another teacher next round, I'll have Leslie serve as a substitute. She seems more like a primary teacher to me but she's a substitute teacher currently, so it makes sense for her to fill in. Eventually, the permanent spot will go to Veronica Moretti, once she graduates (assuming she does!)

    Thanks for reading!

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  7. Oh, wow, she maxed out her skills in college?? I don't think I've ever had a sim do that! I can see why she'd want a new challenge now... although I think she's going to have a different kind of challenge ahead anyway, with Sylvia.

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  8. Blackcat, she did! I think Joanna is somewhat of a genius. ;) She was well on her way to maxing out her skills as a child, so I was expecting it to happen sometime while she was still quite young. She's still my only Sim to max out her skills pre-elderhood, I think.

    Haha, yes, I'm sure Sylvia will prove to be more than challenging! If she does though, Joanna will probably be grateful for the break from her while she's at work!

    Thanks for reading!

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  9. For a moment there I was expecting them to have another baby! And of course I wouldn't have minded at all :) but their family seems pretty perfect as it is.
    As always I can't believe Sylvia is turning 12 next round! I'm pretty sure though she will be great to watch as a teen :)

    It will be strange to see your high school without Joanna in it, but seeing it wasn't really her dream to teach, it's kind of logical for her to change jobs.

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  10. Tanja, no, no more babies for these two! Joanna's IFS is 2 and Rose's is 4, so I figure 3 is a nice compromise. Especially seeing they're in their 40s now.

    I'm excited to see Sylvia as a teen. She's going to be quite interesting, I think!

    True, it'll be a little weird without Joanna at the high school but I'm looking forward to shaking things up a bit. I wanted to do the same at my primary school but I don't want to let go of any of those teachers, lol! I'll probably wait until Tatiana retires.

    Thanks for reading!

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  11. When the heck did Rose and Joanna get to be in their 40's?! Oh how time flies! I can totally see Joanna excelling in the biology field, she so smart and focused.

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  12. Mizzgin03, I know. :\ Asha, Lia and Olivia are 40 next year and then that feels like it'll be the end of an era! I still remember all these girls in college.

    I think Joanna will do really well in her new job. I'm excited to finally place her in it. I'll probably cheat her in, eventually. ;)

    Thanks for reading!

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  13. Sylvia looks like she's going to be a pill. Man is that going to be fun.

    Joanna is quite bright. I can't wait to see where she goes next

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    Replies
    1. Ha, yes, I think Sylvia might end up being a handful! Fun for us, not so much for Joanna and Rose. ;)

      Joanna will do well, whatever she does. Her skills are maxed out, Sim-wise, but character-wise, she's very hard-working and self-motivated. She'll zoom past Wade's position in no time. He's had the same job for about 30 years now!

      Thanks for reading!

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  14. Ooh, a career change after so many years in one career is scary! I can completely understand her decision though--bratty teenagers, blech. Especially when she's about to have to deal with one at home, too!

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    Replies
    1. Yeah, it's definitely not something I'd be too keen on embarking on. But unlike Joanna, I am quite happy to rest on my laurels. ;) Joanna will enjoy the challenge though and dealing with only one bratty teenager in her day-to-day life will be a relief too!

      Thanks for reading!

      Delete
  15. Joanna won't have too many of her skills to handle Sylvia when she gets older! Good luck to the moms!!

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    Replies
    1. I think Rose and Joanna are in for a real challenge once they're face to face with a teenage Sylvia!

      Thanks for reading!

      Delete