Tuesday 28 February 2012

You can count on me

Round 33: June 2037 (Winter)
last update/next update

Augustin and Hanna Novak are 82, Naomi is 62 and Owen is 60.
(Eliot is 51, Maia is 35, Ethan and Matilda are 31, Adrienne is 30, Malcolm is 27, Hope is 26, Tim is 17, Matthew and Simon are 12, Willow is 2 and River is 4 weeks old)
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Narrated by Hanna Novak


I’ve been retired for years now and I appreciate it more and more all the time.

I know that Naomi is still baffled at the love Augustin and I have discovered for gardening but you do need to find something to fill your days.

And she certainly doesn’t complain when we get to use all these fresh ingredients in the meals we cook each night.

It’s winter now though, so our gardening days are over for the next few months. Augustin has been spending his time watching football on TV instead.

Owen takes a swim every morning without fail, no matter the weather, and Augustin has been joining him in that as well.

Football has never interested me and I’m definitely not going to be swimming in this weather, so I decided to try sewing instead. I never would have picked it up while I was working - I wouldn’t have had enough time to practise - but I’m finding I really enjoy it now.

Naomi was thrilled that I was taking an interest in it, so now she’s able to teach me something for once.

We've never really bonded over something like this before, so it’s been a lot of fun for both of us.

With a little help, I even managed to make a pair of curtains for our bedroom. They actually match the decor better than our old ones did.

I’m not much interested in learning to sew clothes but both Naomi and Adrienne are designers - they’re often making garments for each other.

Adrienne just released her very first collection and after the official launch party with all the industry people, Naomi held a little after-party at Vestiti, just for family and friends.

Augustin and I don’t really go to many parties at our age but it was nice to have a drink or two and a night out.

Really, I am just so proud of Adrienne. She’s done so well for herself and she’s very talented.

Adrienne is thrilled to finally have her collection out. She was desperate to have it in stores before her baby arrived and she’s achieved that goal now.

She and Amar don’t have room for a baby in their current house, so they’re going to start looking around for something bigger now.

I was going to caution her not to get something bigger than they could afford - babies are expensive. But she already makes at least twice what I was making as a teacher at her age. If she does even half as well as her mother does, she won't ever need to worry about money.

Adrienne’s best friend Matilda, who I hadn’t seen in person since she was in high school, made an appearance at the party. Matilda is due with her first child in August and is so excited. It’s the first grandchild for her father too; the first grandchild is always so special!

That was such a long time ago for me and Augustin. We have three great-grandchildren now, with two more on the way. Maia gave birth to our latest just a month ago. His name is River and we haven’t had the chance to meet him yet.

We made sure to make Ethan and Maia promise to bring him over as soon as they could, as well as his big sister Willow.

They were true to their word and brought the kids round that same weekend. I just love little babies River’s age. Always so sweet.

Well, not always sweet! I had twins, in college no less, so I know River probably isn’t quite so fun for Ethan and Maia at the moment.

Willow doesn’t seem too bothered by her new little brother. She was more interested in showing off the nursery rhyme Maia recently taught her and Augustin was happy to indulge her. They are both such gorgeous children.

Augustin and I try to stay involved with all our grandchildren, even though it’s harder with the ones who have families of their own now. We probably see Eliot and his children most often, seeing all of his kids are young and still at home.

Matthew and Simon just started high school this year and Matthew was telling us all about how much he’s enjoying it.

He already has ideas about becoming mayor one day, which is very ambitious of him.

Simon couldn’t be more different. He has zero interest in university and wants to focus on his music.

He is very talented but I wish he wouldn’t focus on his music to the exclusion of all else. Education is so important.

I expressed my concerns to Eliot but he isn’t too worried about Simon. He thinks Simon is still very young and that there’s plenty of time for him to change his mind.

Tim is planning on medical school and that seemed to come out of nowhere just last year so I guess things can change quickly, with kids that age.

Malcolm has told me he’s had a few talks with Tim, so he knows what he’s in for if he does decide on med school. From the sounds of it, it’s an awful lot of work.

Malcolm and Hope are house hunting right now but Hope has been doing the majority of the legwork involved. Malcolm has been working some extra long hours lately and hasn’t had the time.

Hope doesn’t seem to mind. She’s very motivated to find a house and move in, because Malcolm has said that’s when he wants to start planning a wedding.

It sounds like Hope will be doing all the planning for that too, seeing she has such specific ideas. Given Malcolm’s time constraints and the fact that he isn’t too fussed, he will likely let her take the reins.

Augustin is quite anxious for Malcolm and Hope to just get married, already. He complains about the hold-up quite often. He’s worried he’ll be dead by the time the wedding takes place.

He says he’s only joking but I still hate it when he talks like that.

I know Augustin is very fit and healthy, so I try not to dwell on it too much and focus on the positive things instead. On top of Malcolm’s wedding, we have a great-grandchild due at the beginning of next year and maybe another before then, if all goes well for Aaron and Calvin. There’s so much for us to look forward to!

Notes:
  • Title is from You Can Count On Me by Ben Kweller.
  • Finally, I have this thing up! I had a free day where I could have played last week and ended up instead picking at various lots in the hood, as well as re-dressing some townies for a little project I've set for myself. I've assigned townies into some of the custom careers I have and have been making sure they all look appropriate for said careers. It's a very slow process but I have, at least, decided which career each townie will be going into.
  • It was pretty fun for me to focus on Hanna for a change. I'm not sure she's had a look-in since Adrienne and Malcolm were still living at home.
  • I had big plans for a launch party for Adrienne's line but it took me so long to get this update done already, so that had to happen "off-camera". I'm still keeping the idea in mind for another time, either for Adrienne or one of the other designers.
  • Augustin and Hanna are both really keen for Matthew and Simon to get some scholarships and go to college. I haven't even locked the wants and they just won't roll away. It does make sense that two former teachers would think higher education was so vital though, so I quite like that!

22 comments:

  1. I love how Simon is into music and not really caring about a higher education. LOL But he's still young, time will only tell. Adrienne launched her line! That's great. I'm super excited about her and Amir's coming bundle of joy! Hopefully Augustin and Hanna will be around for the up coming wedding! I can't wait for that either. So I home Malcolm finds a place! lol

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Heh, maybe Simon's Uncle Luc needs to talk to him. He was musically inclined from a young age too but he still went to college! And he had himself a pretty nice time there too, lol!

      Adrienne's getting all her ducks in a row for this baby. She's in a much better position now than she was in college. Now that the line is out, the next step will be a new house. :) Malcolm and Hope's wedding won't be till next round but we have Charlie and Camilla's coming up really soon. I just have one more family to play. :)

      Thanks for reading!

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  2. It's so cute to see Hanna and Augustin playing with their great-grandchildren. Hopefully they'll both be around to see Malcolm and Hope's wedding. I'm glad to see Adrienne launched her clothing line! Now she can rest a bit and focus on the baby. :)

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Augustin and Hanna are pretty sweet. Their time in college is still quite clear to me, so it's crazy to me that they're around for their greatgrandchildren! I actually haven't checked when either of them are due to die...I hope they're still around for Malcolm and Hope's wedding, lol!

      Adrienne's got some house hunting to do but seeing Amar has done that before, maybe she can let him do most of that work and kick back and wait for the baby instead. ;)

      Thanks for reading!

      Delete
  3. There was so much going on, babies, college and launch parties-oh my! I take it that this family is going to be very busy in the next few months with all the changes happening.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Yes, the Novaks are very busy right now and will probably remain so for a while yet! It's a bit overwhelming but it's lots of fun things to look forward to as well.

      Thanks for reading!

      Delete
  4. Alright there Carla! You keep having these elder sims hinting at death! Just plain mean! :p I'm glad that they have survived their household play session, though that just leaves it open for others to die... There is so much going on right now, I'm excited about all of it! New houses, wedding, babies, launch parties! Lots of fun! I'm looking forward to seeing how Tim does in school, and how Matt and Simon grow and what they end up settling on for career.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Ha, sorry! But yeah, you can safely assume Hanna and Augustin are both safe this round. ;)

      I'm having so much fun with the hood right now, because there's so much going on. I don't even have time to twiddle my thumbs waiting for a particular thing to happen because all the other things scheduled are keeping me well and truly busy and distracted.

      I'm very keen on sending Tim and that group to college. It's going to be like a whole new era with that bunch starting. :D

      Thanks for reading!

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  5. I love your blog and each and everyone of your simmies! :) I don't normally comment, but I was just wondering if you'd still have copies of your original families, like the Kirbys, the Lahances, the Gottliebs, the Drapers..etc? Like the founders? Because if you do, I was wondering if you could maybe put them up for download? I love Sullivan, and am so jealous of your hood, and I was really hoping that I could create my own Sullivan in my game. If you can't, thats fine (ill try my best to recreate your unique sims), but thanks for trying anyway! :)

    Keep updating! :)

    ReplyDelete
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    1. I'm so glad you're enjoying Sullivan. I never get sick of hearing that from people. ;)

      I have some complicated feelings about uploading my Sims and I'm going to be totally honest with you about them. I'm flattered that you want them but I won't be uploading them. It's technically possible but it's not something I'm willing to do. I'm rather protective and possessive about my Sims. Perhaps it sounds silly but they're quite special to me. I've poured so much time and effort into them over the years.

      I have uploaded some Sims in the past (Tatiana, Joanna and Nick) but since then, I've become more and more uncomfortable with the idea. At this point, I'll leave those three Sims up but I may well take them down in the future.

      I feel really strange about the idea you trying to create your own Sullivan, if you're planning on blogging or sharing pics anywhere. But mainly, recreating my Sims is not going to get you the experience you're after. Create your own Sims which are special to you in some way (I like to try to copy photos of real people, so I am more likely to use features I wouldn't normally use), spend time on them and the hood and then you'll have a truly unique hood. After all, if you just try to recreate my Sims, they won't really be unique, will they? Your own hood, with your very own Sims will be much more satisfying. The effort will be worth it.

      Thanks for reading!

      Delete
  6. It seems like quite a job just to have to keep up with all of the children and their families. I do hope Augustin makes it to Malcolm and Adrienne's wedding. I imagine once that happens, they'll be poking at them for future great-grandchildren.

    Will Adrienne be able to get any time off between now and the birth of her baby? It seems like she'll be even busier from now until then.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Augustin and Hanna are just lucky they only had three kids! I'm imagining the job Evan and Ione will have ahead of them once their five kids are all out on their own! It certainly keeps them busy. And yep, they will definitely be wanting great-grandchildren from Malcolm and Hope. Fortunately for them, Hope isn't willing to wait on that, so they'll probably come fairly quickly.

      Adrienne will probably work right up until her delivery time, or very close to it. She's a busy woman right now. :)

      Thanks for reading!

      Delete
  7. The launch party looked like fun! What a nifty idea. :)

    I think Hanna and Augustin are keeping pretty busy for retirees, so that's good! It's lovely to see how much their families have grown!

    ReplyDelete
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    1. It was fun but once I get a fashion lot done, I think I'll be able to do some better ones, along with some cool fashion shows and stuff.

      Hanna is the type who needs to keep busy, so this kind of retirement is working out well for her. Augustin would be content to just veg, so it's good he has Hanna to keep him active.

      Thanks for reading!

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  8. Even though the party for Adrienne's first line wasn't what you planned, it still seem like fun - yet another idea to add to my list, I keep stealing idea's from you!

    It's nice that Hanna picked up a new hobby, and that that hobby is sewing. Even though she's not doing it professionally, it gives her nice topic of conversation with her daughter and granddaughter.

    This family is so nice, and I can't wait to see what will happen to them next :)

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Steal away, as I always tell everyone. ;) I would still like a fashion lot though and I think that might be my next career lot. I keep thinking back to everything Shana had going for Terri in her TS2 hood and I'm dying to have something similar!

      Adrienne and Naomi aren't so much into sewing curtains - I'm sure they'd both think that was old lady stuff. ;) But it's still a shared interest between the three generations of women.

      Thanks for reading!

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  9. Aww, Matilda looks like she's about to blow LOL. She really is a cute pregnant sim. I like Adrienne's outfit. Did you pin the top on Pinterest? I think I saw it recently. I'm glad she was able to get her line out before the baby arrives. She'll have her hands full after that!

    It was really nice reading from Hanna's POV. So many grandkids and now great-grandkids! I already like the differences between Simon and Matthew. I can imagine a teenager Simon's age thinking only of getting right to the fortune and fame of being a musican and not thinking about getting an education to fall back on.

    And I already said at N99 how I loved that last picture. So sweet.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Matilda's at term now, so yep, she's definitely ready to blow! She's pretty cute in general but add pregnancy to the mix? Awww!

      I don't think I pinned Adrienne's top (which is actually a full body outfit). I can't remember where I got that. I've had it for a long time. Definitely a busy time for her and Amar.

      It was about time one of the oldies got a chance to narrate again. I actually wasn't sure what I was going to do with this family and going back to a Sim we hadn't heard much from recently helped with that.

      Simon has a famous rock star uncle, so he's probably thinking he can do this musician thing easy. But Luc went to college before he started out. Maybe Luc can give him a "stay in school" pep talk. ;)

      Thanks for reading!

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  10. I am ashamed to say that apparently I haven't been paying attention good enough. I didn't realize that Hanna and Augustin were great grandparents. I don't think I have seen that an anyones game before. Great job, I think I would die trying to keep track of everyone.

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    1. Hanna and Augustin are the first great-grandparents in my game who stuck around long enough to actually interact with their great-grandkids. I've had two great-grandparents before - Julian (with Camilla's twins) and Leontine (with Victoria's son Declan) but they both died very early on.

      I'm the kind of nerd who enjoys tracking this sort of thing, so it's not too hard for me to follow!

      Thanks for reading!

      Delete
  11. Seriously, Carla, you have the best elders ever! My now-aging Sims do hope of all their strenght that they'll get as happy and filled lives when they're older than yours!
    I love all these family reunions.

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    1. I'm sure you'll have lots of fun with your Sims as they age too. :) It took me a while to enjoy elders and I still struggle with them a little but I find them a lot more fun than I used to! Owen and Naomi will be busier next round, now that they're grandparents. ;)

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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