Friday 23 July 2010

Heaven tonight

Round 28: Summer 2027


Lake Draper is 70, Kendal is 51 and Chris is 12.
(Joanna and Rose are both 32, Josie is 25, Troy is 24 and Sylvia is 1)
Narrated by Kendal Draper

It's been so hot lately and I've been really thankful for the pool! We've been here a few years now but this is the first summer where I've felt hot enough to want to use it. I'm not normally much of a swimmer.

The heat, unfortunately, didn't do anything to prevent Lake getting sick, so I've been worried out of my mind.

As soon as anyone gets sick, my mind immediately goes to Samson and how ill he was before he died. I made sure he got plenty of rest, which he wasn't thrilled about but he humoured me anyway.

All the while insisting he wasn't that sick and that it was only a cold. He was so bored in bed all day and we hadn't yet met Sylvia and he really wanted to see his first grandchild.

Logically, I knew he was right but I can't relax when someone's sick any more. I'm on edge for the whole time until they get better. And after a few days of rest, Lake was fully recovered.

Sylvia is just going to be so spoiled. Every time we go shopping, we find something else to buy for her.

Sylvia already probably has the most extensive wardrobe of any toddler in town. Who could resist all those adorable baby outfits?

We had Rose and Joanna bring Sylvia over as soon as they could. We couldn't wait to meet her.

Lake was excited about Rose and Joanna adopting but he wasn't quite sure about being a grandfather. He's 70 now but he doesn't really feel that old most of the time.

Lake just loves Sylvia though. She's adorable, so it's hard not to.

It seems like so long ago that Chris was a baby but Lake is really enjoying revisiting that stage.

I'm not mentioning anything to Lake, because having another baby at 51 is not going to happen but Sylvia has brought back my baby fever a little bit. I just think they're so much fun at this age but I know I would never get Lake on board anyway, even if I could get pregnant again.

I might be getting too old to deal with the tantrum stage anyway. Sylvia has a real pair of lungs!

I hope Sylvia hasn't turned Chris off ever having his own children one day!

The good parts of having kids definitely outweigh the bad for me and I'm glad Rose and Joanna are experiencing parenthood for themselves now.

They're both enjoying Sylvia so much. She is just about the only topic of conversation when we all have dinner together.

Chris gets bored of hearing baby stories and usually changes the topic around to his lifetime goal of the week. He's always talking about being an architect but he talks about other things he might want to do too.

Chris is still very into basketball and he can usually be found practising in our backyard with his friend Edward.

Chris was talking about following in Calvin's footsteps and playing professionally but Chris doesn't think he's going to be tall enough. He's convinced he's inherited my shortness. He's one of the shorter boys at school and he's smaller than Calvin and Troy were at that age, so he might be right.

When he's not doing playing or talking about basketball, he's playing around with my telescope. I'm secretly thrilled with that. Neither Calvin or Troy were interested in anything to do with science, so I'm hoping I might have someone to talk astronomy with if Chris stays interested.

And then the other night, he was trying to convince me to buy him a drum kit, of all things! He's never shown an interest in music before, so that came out of nowhere!

I said no to the drum kit (we've got no space for one and I don't fancy the noise anyway) but I don't really mind what career path he takes when he's older. As long as he keeps his head down and studies now. He's a little embarrassed that I'm his teacher this year but thankfully, that hasn't resulted in him neglecting his school work.

We actually get along better now that he's in high school than we did when he was 10 or 11. It was like I didn't exist last year!

Last year, Lake re-opened Elias's Earthenwares in a new location. He was a bit concerned about whether the customers would follow but they're obviously very loyal.

He's picked up some new customers too. The new store is larger and harder to miss, so he's getting a lot more people noticing the store and coming in to look around.

Lake is starting to think seriously about handing the shop over to Rose. In the past, he's considered selling it but before she died, he promised Ottilie he'd keep it in the family.

Rose seems willing to take on the responsibility, so I think this will make everyone happy.
Rose isn't ready to take over just yet but she's excited to start. Patience has never been interested in the idea.

I was very surprised a few nights ago when Troy and Josie dropped in to visit. It's such a chore to get Troy over here sometimes, so I immediately thought they must have big news.

They did, but it wasn't what I was expecting. Troy finally got a new job!

The poor boy was so over driving taxis, so I'm glad he's in a field he's interested in, finally. He'll be working with a gaming company. When Troy was living at home with us, he barely did anything but play video games so the job is perfect for him.

After the congratulations, we all sat back down and I confessed that I was expecting Troy and Josie to announce a different kind of news. I really did think they'd come over to tell me they were getting married!

Troy and Josie were definitely surprised that that was where my mind went! I guess they haven't discussed marriage yet.

Notes:
  • Title from Heaven Tonight by Hole.
  • Oops, no fence in the family portrait! I added that once I decided to have the family get together in the backyard. It always kind of freaks me out to see toddlers teetering so close to the pool, even though I know they can't fall in!
  • And yes, Kendal rolled the want for a damn baby. Well, tough, Kendal, you're not getting one! Lake has the constant fear of one, so he is most definitely not on board! Kendal's want rolled away and didn't come back, so I'm thinking of it as more of an idle thought.
  • Chris rolls up some pretty strange wants. He's a Sports Sim with an LTW to be a City Planner, who will not leave the telescope alone and rolls random wants to slap dance (seriously, WTF?) and buy drum kits. He has no enthusiasm for Science or Music and Dance. I guess he's just feeling his way and trying out new things. But he does seem to have become somewhat of a mama's boy! He follows Kendal around the house trying to play red hands and congratulate her on odd things.
  • Edward is way taller than Chris, because I somehow missed him when I was assigning heights at the beginning of this round. He's still the default teen height, which my 12 year-olds never are. I'm using Maisie's method to make height genetic and luckily, Chris being short and Edward being tall fits with their genetics.
  • Did everyone see the cameo by Anjali Shaw from Lakeside Heights? The July Project at N99 was to make and share Sims and Anjali was Laura's contribution. I've downloaded all the Sims so far and turned them into townies and Anjali was the first one I've seen wandering around the hood.
  • I've been teleporting Troy in and having him look for a job on every lot he might conceivably have a reason to visit and finally, the Gamer career popped up for him! I'm using an override of the Gamer career made by prudencepureheart at N99, so I'm looking forward to playing it through and seeing the changes she's made.
  • Troy and Josie both rolled engagement wants while still in college. So it's on both their minds but it's not something they've actually talked about. Neither of them is financially independent yet and Josie still isn't finished medical school. I think she'd be the type to want to sort all that out before taking a big step like marriage.

18 comments:

  1. Okay, so I've been absent from the Simming community for a while, when I saw your family portrait at the top of this post I was amazed at the heights. I absolutely LOVE the idea. (Shows that stuff is always new to someone.) Thank you for the information and the links to the other sites with more info. I've always been annoyed with the fact that my female sims all seem to be taller than my males. (I know they're not, but with some hats and what not, the guys look short!)

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  2. gallowaytownship, you're welcome! Once I decided to start doing heights (which was not my idea, I'll add - I got that from Lakeside Heights), I fell in love with it. Reading Maisie's method of bringing genetics into it just made it even better to me.

    Kendal and Lake are probably one of my couples where it's most obvious because Lake is very tall and Kendal is my shortest female Sim (equal with Cara). It can get annoying to do things like lining up kisses and stuff but I either use different angles or I temporarily make the Sims the same height and then pop them back down. It's a minor annoyance for someone that I think makes the game so much more realistic.

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  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  4. ^^^ I was getting into my stride writing about how familiar one of the 'new' customers looked, posted it then realised I hadn't read the notes and she'd already got a mention, lol. Which explains my removed comment ;)

    I think it's great Lake can honour his promise Ottilie and Rose feels like she can eventually take on the responsibility of a shop.

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  5. I was so sure Troy and Josie would tell Kendal that they're engaged! I'm glad he's finally gotten a job in the gaming career though, he's waited so long.

    I've started using Maisie's method too to link height to eye color. It's so cool and it's much easier to figure out how tall (or short) everyone will be. I love all this nerdy stuff.

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  6. I think Chris actually looks really good being so short. It fits him well.

    I have a question about your sim heights. Do you use Laura's scale that links real life heights to sim heights? As in, 1.0=5'9?

    Also, at what age do you stop making your teen girls taller?


    Flit

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  7. Sorry to double post but I just created my blog. It still only has explanations of each neighborhood but I need some help and I'd love it if you could help me. :)

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  8. Man, 70 really snuck up on me for Lake, I was concerned he might not make it through the sickness, and then your post at N99... Kendal is so much younger then him, and the odds of her being a widow twice are so realistic, makes me worry for the little thing.

    I love that Chris has his mom's genes for height!!

    Yay for Rose taking over the pottery shop, it will be in the family, and I think that's great. Maybe Sylvia will want to run it someday. She's one spoiled girl, and Lake is pretty old for a first time grandpa. I'm glad Troy got a job. Sounds like Troy and Josie are more serious than I originally thought.

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  9. I was kind of hoping Troy and Josie would anounce their engagement, but the news he has was about as good as an engagement. I'm glad he finally found a job.

    I loved the night with the family next to the pool. It looks so cosy.
    I know what you mean with the fence around the pool, I do the same thing.
    Someone asked me once, why I was putting fences around a staircase since my sims couldn't really fall into it! But it just feels so much safer with a fence.

    Sylvia is such a cutie, and I'm hoping with Kendal that Sylvia hasn't turned Chris off ever having children. He looks really frustated with Sylvia's tantrum!

    Exploring every possibility really isn't a bad thing, I guess. And Chris is only a teen anyway, so he will figure it out one day.

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  10. I do the same thing with a fence around the pool. I put one up around Orion and Bessie's pool when I noticed Kat toddling around the backyard when she was smaller and thought, "Um, that's not very safe!" I know the toddlers can't actually fall into it, but I felt better with a fence around it anyway. ;) I put railings around the openings to staircases too because it makes me feel better than to just have that sudden drop off.

    Ha, Kendall was a bit crazy with that baby want. At least it rolled away quickly. I can't believe Lake is 70! I'm glad Troy finally found a job, but I had also thought that maybe they were going to announce their engagement. But yeah, I could see Josie waiting a bit longer.

    lol at poor Chris with cranky Sylvia!

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  11. Shake, LOL, that's okay. I saw your original comment in my e-mail and figured you just missed the notes. :)

    I'm not wedded to having all of my businesses be family businesses, but I do like to do it for a few of them, this one included.

    Sari, you know, it never crossed my mind that you guys would think Troy and Josie were engaged, even though it looks like a few of you thought the same thing!

    I'm all over absolutely anything that lets me be even nerdier than I already am!

    Flit, I think so too! Chris has a lot of Kendal's other features, so why not her height as well?

    I do use Laura's scale, except that I make my 4 year-olds a couple of notches shorter than she does.

    If you mean what age do my teen girls stop "growing", for most of them, I bump them up two notches (so say, from 0.90 to 0.92) every year. For example though, for Tessa, I had planned her adult height to be only 0.93, so she stopped "growing" at 15.

    I will definitely have a look at your blog and try to help you out but I'm only quickly replying to my own comments this morning. I'll get back to you either this afternoon or tomorrow morning. :)

    Maisie, heh, my Sims that have died as young as 70 are few and far between. Most of them make it past 75. But yes, Kendal is very likely to be widowed again. :(

    I don't have many short guys, so it'll be fun to have another. I won't make him too short - I've got him set to be around the same height as Jace and Gordon (who both have short wives!)

    Lake was almost 40 when Rose was born and she's starting her family quite late (for one of my Sims, anyway!), so he is pretty old for a first time grandpa. I hope he's around to see Patience's kids. It seems unlikely that he'll be around for Chris's but I haven't done the maths yet.

    I kept telling you guys that this is it for Troy and Josie! They roll so many wants for each other.

    Tanja, ha, you and Kendal were hoping the same thing!

    My Sims hardly ever use their backyards, so I've been making an effort to do more of that lately. More realistic. People here are in the backyards all the time in summer.

    Chris has plenty of time to change his mind if he is off kids now because of Sylvia! And perhaps he'll see how charming she can be as well!

    Shana, for today's update, I did something similar. There are so many things I do in the game that are unnecessary but it makes it a bit more realistic, so I do it anyway. Sim staircases are scary!

    A moment of madness for Kendal, I think! She's entitled to one but I'm not going to indulge it! I fully expect it to roll back one day.

    I can see Josie as the type to talk something like to death, so I'm not positive when these Troy and Josie will actually tie the knot although it will almost definitely happen eventually. :)

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  12. Aww, she is going to be so spoiled. I hope she's a sweetie when she grows up, but judging by her crankiness I doubt it.

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  13. Apple Valley, Adrienne only has one nice point and I think her dad only has three, so Sylvia never had much chance of being very sweet! Together with the spoiling...well, we'll see! Maybe Rose can counteract the crankiness.

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  14. Yes, I totally saw Anjali Shaw! So neat to see one friend's sim in another friend's blog.

    Also, that last shot of Troy and Josie is classic, lol!

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  15. Oh poor Kendal! It's going to happen to her again one of these days, and I'm just biting my nails until then :( I hope he lives to be 100!

    (I don't think anyone's ever had a Sim live to 100, have they? My oldest in real gameplay so far has been about 88, I think. And the oldest in testing my aging mod has been 92. I hope he lives to be 92 then!)

    Sylvia is just adorable! I'm so glad to see Rose and Joanna with her now!

    And oh, hi Anjali! :)

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  16. Lunar, heh, I've put a bunch of other people's Sims in as townies lately but it was especially fun to see Anjali, seeing she's already a character elsewhere.

    Josie makes that face a lot but not usually when talking to Troy, so I decided I had to use that picture!

    Laura, I know, isn't it sad? Kendal's very likely to be widowed again.

    Without aging hacks, I didn't think Sims could live past 85 - that was the highest I ever got before I did my own aging mod, anyway! I've got all my elder deaths listed in Flashnote and I have a couple of Sims who are going to live to their 90s, the highest being 93! Whether one of them is Lake remains to be seen. To you guys, anyway!

    I can't wait to play Sylvia again - Joanna and Rose are so cute with her.

    Oh, and by the way, Anjali bought over $800 worth of pottery! I don't know what she's going to do with it all, given that she's a homeless townie but it might end up being a nice nest egg to sell if she ever marries into one of my families!

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  17. Aww, Sylvia's even cute when she's having her tantrums. What a beautiful tot she is and I know she'll be a beautiful young woman.

    Is it me or didn't Rose's boobs look huge in that shirt while they were eating? LOL! I'm watching Big Brother here in the States and she reminds me of this girl on there who has big ones. Really big....

    Anyway lol, glad to see Troy finally got a job. It's been so long. I thought they'd be announcing an engagement too but in time, I guess :). I can't wait to see a Josie/Troy wedding.

    And I can see Kendal wanting 20 grandkids once she becomes an elder if she's still thinking about having another at her age. She'll soon find that being a grandmother is better than having her own kids cuz she can spoil them and then send them home :). Although some of your sim grandparents didn't have the latter luxury ;)

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  18. Danielle, I think Sylvia's cute too but it doesn't look like Chris agrees, at least when he's the one who's got to deal with her tantrums!

    LOL, yes, Rose's boobs are bigger than normal right now because she got fat when I popped in to have them adopt Sylvia. She's Popularity, so she usually rolls the want to get fit again. But her weight has gone up and down since she was a teenager.

    I can see the 20 grandkids want popping up for Kendal too! All of my Sims who wanted babies at a later age have eventually had that want. Calvin and Troy are both at least a few years away from having kids though, so she might be annoying me with that want again soon! I guess Josie could have an oops but she and Troy are both neat, so they're on double BC. Josie wouldn't want to get pregnant until she's completely done with med school and established in her career.

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