Round 35: September 2041 (Spring)
James Novak is 66 and Madelyn is 61.
(Aaron is 38, Ethan is 35, Connor is 28, Natalie is 4, Curtis is 2 and Wren is 19 months)
James Novak is 66 and Madelyn is 61.
(Aaron is 38, Ethan is 35, Connor is 28, Natalie is 4, Curtis is 2 and Wren is 19 months)
Narrated by Madelyn Novak
James promised that he would retire from NKL at the beginning of last year and just keep going with Novak Motors. He didn't end up making that decision until the beginning of this year.
He kept telling me he had this particular project to see to completion and he had to make sure that employee was ready to take over.
I can’t say I was particularly impressed with that but I left it to him and just hoped he’d eventually make good!
And he did, thankfully. We now have evenings and the whole weekend together.
Previously, James would often stay late at the office “finishing up” or he’d go into the dealership on the weekends.
He now wraps up everything at Novak Motors by 5pm and comes home to me, about an hour after I get home myself.
We try to use that time we have together to actually go out and do things, rather than sitting at home.
James is a bit of a homebody but he’s always happy when we make the effort and go out for a bit.
It’s so nice just to have some time to talk and relax in a different setting.
James does still work very hard at Novak Motors, so sometimes I drop in on my lunch hour with a coffee and something to eat for him.
I usually end up making a couple of comments about his outdated office, because I just can’t help myself!
I wish he’d let me renovate it but he is oddly attached to the furniture and ugly art he has hanging in there. I’ll wear him down one of these days.
Maybe I’ll paint him something myself. I have a studio at home now, so it’s much more pleasant to take time out and paint now.
If I paint him something, he’ll have to hang it up and it’ll be that little bit easier to get him to make some other changes!
If not, well, I'm glad James is so happy with the business now. When he was still at NKL, he didn't feel like he could really devote himself to Novak Motors the way he wanted to.
He’s feeling really good about it now and is so excited to go into work every day.
Novak Motors is pretty successful already but he’s constantly looking for ways to go that little bit further and achieve even more.
He’d like to pass it on to one of the boys eventually but he’s not sure if any of them will be interested in running a business.
What I think would be really nice if all three of them ran it together! They get along so well and I bet they could enjoy working together too.
But I guess, we all get together as a family often enough that they might not really want to work together as well!
Most recently, we had everyone at our place to celebrate Father’s Day. It was for James but for Aaron and Calvin and Ethan as well, seeing they are also fathers now.
Curtis and Wren are too young to understand what Father’s Day is really all about but they did enjoy playing with our two little dogs!
Yes, we have two dogs now! We got Waldo a few years ago and adopted Waggles just this month. Waldo made friends with a little stray in the neighbourhood and I couldn't resist.
It helped that she looked exactly like Waldo! You would never know they weren't related and the only way I can tell them apart is by their collars.
Natalie kept exclaiming that they were “twins, just like Daddy and Uncle Troy!” Not really but they do look the part!
James is a really hard person to buy gifts for but this year, Aaron, Ethan and Connor had a fantastic idea. They pooled their resources and bought him a new telescope. He already had one but it was a very old, much cheaper model. This one is top of the line and I can’t imagine what they spent on it.
Connor was the one who set it up for us. He’s the most technologically-minded in the family, though he insisted it really wasn't that hard anyway.
James was absolutely thrilled with the telescope. He never would have bought one for himself - honestly, he’s a little tight with money sometimes - so it was the perfect gift.
It was dark by the time everyone left, so James headed right back out to try out his new gift.
He was totally in his element and he was out there for a good while, just gazing at the stars.
I'm glad he enjoyed his Father’s Day and his gift, though I have to confess I wondered if he’d show his face again inside before winter rolls around!
Notes:
- Title is from Ready to Start by Arcade Fire.
- It was hard to get up the motivation to play this family, because I am so keen for birthdays! But once I jumped in, I did have fun with them. The whole family was at the Father's Day thing, though they didn't all appear.
- James's office still being all EAified is my fault! I started to do the rest of the lot (with a little bit of EA stuff, actually, though different to what was already there) and completely ran out of steam once I got to his office! So I'll probably do that up next time.
- First time I saw Waggles and Waldo together, I thought I was having that bug where one sim will have a clone appear. I'd never noticed the glitch with a pet but I figured there was a first time for everything. I was quite amused when I realised it was a completely different dog who just happened to look identical to Waldo! What are the odds? I had to adopt her!
- While I was playing, I was thinking I might eventually pass Novak Motors down to Connor but have Lila run it (I think we can assume she's in this for the long haul now!). She's more business-minded than any of the Novak boys are and I kind of love the idea of her succeeding in such a male-dominated business as well!
So funny that Madelyn finally got James home in the evenings and then he got a telescope so he may be outside till winter! This was a good update, Curtis and Wren and Waldo and Waggles are TOO cute. I can't believe your luck in getting such an adorable stray in your game! It looks like one of them knows the trick "Shake."
ReplyDeleteWell, I guess Madelyn still has the weekends with James! The telescope is going to keep him quite busy now. ;)
DeleteToddlers and dogs - I can never resist! I couldn't believe that little stray happened along either. And yes, both Waggles and Waldo know "Shake". James taught it to Waldo but Waggles already knew it when she joined the family. Someone must have loved her before!
Thanks for reading and commenting!
Lila running it would be great, I totally think she could handle the male dominated career field. Novak Motors looks great from what I could see, I understand running out of steam. Cesar's Dad owns a pretend shop right now, good thing I'm not playing him too much or he'd be broke, so I haven't even mustered steam to begin to run out. ;)
ReplyDeleteThe Father's Day was great, and how cute to have two twin dogs, the grandkids were adorable cuddling with them. Do the dogs have the same personality too? Poor Madelyn sitting alone at the table, sipping her coffee/tea, while James is occupied with his new toy. So true to life right there! She should just be glad that it's not something like a fixer up car, then she'd have to lose driveway space on top of it all.
The more I think about Lila running Novak Motors, the more I'm excited about the idea! I've pretty much decided at this point, I think, lol!
DeleteI think I checked the dogs' personality and I think I remember them being different in that aspect. Thank goodness they have different collars though, so I can tell them apart at a glance!
Heh, or she could have Audrey's problem - an ugly video arcade machine her husband wants to put in the living room, lol! Madelyn could definitely have it worse than a telescope in the backyard. :)
Thanks for reading and commenting!
Hi Carla-I am a huge fan of your story blog and I love your writing style and have taken much inspiration from you to perhaps one day write about the families in my game! You are doing an excellent job with your stories and I always look forward to the next updates! Once again thank you for all the gameplay tips and wonderful stories you share with us-you ROCK!
ReplyDeleteHi Rockelle, that's so lovely of you to say! You've totally made my day. :D There's a new tiny update for you this morning and hopefully I can get another story update out soon. I hope you continue to enjoy my little old blog!
DeleteThanks for reading and commenting!
Love the two pups, so adorable. You do a great job writing your elders, I tend to make mine NPPs and occasionally showcase them, but yours always have such super active lives. I think once I have more elders in my game it will be different.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you think so! I still sort of dread playing my elders, to be honest, because I'm never sure if I'll find anything to write about. I always do but it's hard sometimes.
DeleteThanks for reading and commenting!
Great to see these two will be spending more time together now that James will be working one job. Though now the boys brought him the telescope he might be outside for hours! lol
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely family though with the three boys. Surely one of them would be willing to take on their fathers business.
Elders are seriously so sweet! I haven't played an elder couple in ages but hopefully that will change since I've changed to the rotation system.
The dogs are adorable too. Love their names! ;)
Well, eventually, it'll be too cold for James to be out there too long. He'll have to come inside sometime!
DeleteAll three boys have their own careers that they're happy with but even if they didn't, I can't see any of them running a car lot. Aaron is a Fortune sim who doesn't really suit his aspiration. He doesn't seem to care about money at all, or cars. Ethan is a nature sim and I can't imagine he'd be too keen on selling gas guzzlers and Connor doesn't have the charisma to sell cars and wouldn't want to do it anyway. So I think Lila will be the next best thing. More than likely, she'll be family one day and that'll be good enough for James.
Heh, I can only take credit for Waldo! Waggles already had a name (because strays without collars apparently have names, lol).
Thanks for reading and commenting!
I can only hope once all my adults become elders, they'll still be that interesting. Granted, my John is interesting, but I'm about to lose him. :( The update was cute, and James was always rather single-minded, so the telescope doesn't surprise me! But fortunately, he has to come inside eventually. He's getting old and those bones won't be able to take as much as they used to.
ReplyDeleteAw, John. :( I have an elder to kill off this round and THREE next round. I'll be so sad when I have to finally do it.
DeleteSingle-minded is an excellent word to describe James. He's very set in his ways but he definitely didn't mind a little update on his telescope for his stargazing! I would hope that he'll be sensible with it and not stay out longer than he can handle..but I think James has rarely been anything but sensible!
Thanks for reading and commenting!
I never thought somewhere else in the world father's day and mother's day would be celebrated on other days, but I should have known, since we have 2 different dates for mother's day here in Belgium. Don't ask me why, I think it's silly, but well. We celebrate father's day on the second sunday of June, and mother's day on the second sunday of may.
ReplyDeleteYou've, once again, given me a nice idea to celebrate in SimsVille!
I loved the gift the boy got their dad, and James seemed to really enjoy it as well.
I agree with Madelyn that the office could to with a make over, maybe she'll get him to allow her to redecorate a little bit.
It would be nice if one of the boys would run the business together, but I'm pretty sure Lila would do a great job as well, I'm sure she could handle the male-dominated business very well!
Well, in Australia, Mother's Day is the same as in Belgium and I think it's the same in the US and many other places as well, although I know the UK celebrates it on a different day. Not many places use first Sunday in September for Father's Day though. I think it's us, New Zealand and like Fiji and Papua New Guinea and that's it.
DeleteI would love to see the dads in SimsVille getting some Father's Day appreciation though! It might give you something to write about if you're ever stuck for ideas in the appropriate month. ;) That's pretty much the reason I wrote it in here!
Oh, don't worry, that office will be getting a makeover! Madelyn and I will get our way. ;) And yeah, if one of the boys wanted the business and would be well-suited to it, they would get it, no question. Seeing they're not though, I think Lila is a good compromise. I think she'd do great. :)
Thanks for reading and commenting!