Sunday 18 July 2010

Sea legs

Round 27: Spring 2026
last update/Tessa's next update/next update

Jace Novak is 69, Magdalena is 62 and Tessa is 17.
(Gordon is 30, Lia is 29, Annabel and Georgina are both 2, Maia is 24, Rebecca is 17 and Dominic and Nathan are both 16)

Narrated by Tessa Novak

Our house was much too big for our family, especially with me off on my own soon, so Mum and Dad decided to sell up and downsize.

The new place is really nice. The backyard is actually bigger than at our old place and my bedroom leads right out onto it.

I thought maybe we'd end up moving to Exeter, seeing it's closer to school and Dad's store. I was kind of excited about it.

I won't be in school for much longer though and Dad doesn't mind the travel, so we're still in Sullivan.

We probably couldn't get a backyard this size in Exeter anyway. The house is smaller but there's still plenty of room for the whole extended family in our backyard.

Both of my sisters come over most weekends and Lia brings Gordon and my little nieces.

There'd be howls of protests from my parents if Annabel and Georgina didn't come along. The backyard was set up with them in mind - there's even a swing set for them when they get older.

Poor Daisy could probably do with a break from the twins though! She's not used to little kids.

I'm about to become an aunty all over again, because Lia is due any day now with Baby Number 3! She's nowhere near as big as she was at this stage last time but then again, she's only having one this time.

Everyone's pretty excited about it, seeing this is going to be their last baby.

Maia's already worried Mum and Dad are going to start harping on her about getting married once Lia is done.

I think it's already started, from the sounds of what Mum and Dad were talking about with Maia last time she was here.

Mum is big on the "as long as you're happy" thing but I think she wishes Maia was happy dating some nice guy, rather than happily single.

Mum thinks Maia is going to end up an old maid because when she was Maia's age, she'd been with Dad for five years already. I don't think Maia is particularly concerned about that but Mum is!

It's looking like I'll be able to graduate high school with almost perfect grades! Just a few weeks to go, and so far, so good.

I'm really proud of myself because it's not the kind of thing that comes easy to me. I've really had to work for my grades.

The time between now and when I start classes at Suffolk is going to fly by, so I'm trying to savour everything at home while I can. I think I'm really going to miss it!

I think I might even miss my parents being so embarrassing the majority of the time!

We're pretty close, as overprotective as Dad can be and despite Mum's tendency towards nagging!

I'm really glad Rebecca is coming to Suffolk with me next year! I think having my best friend from home there next to me is going to ease my homesickness at least a little.

We always have so much fun together, especially now that we can both drive. We can go wherever we want now.

And then there's Rebecca's unwavering loyalty to me. Rebecca is still angry at Nathan for dumping me in public last year.

I'm over it, Nathan is over it but Rebecca just won't let it go. I don't hold grudges and Nathan and I weren't right for each other anyway.

I've been seeing Dominic Lachance for a little while now anyway.

He's so different from Nathan - such a sweetheart. It's hard to believe he's Nathan's best friend.

He's kind of shy, so I've had to do most of the chasing. But I'm not shy at all, so I don't really mind.

I'm having such an awesome time with him so far. It's still early days but we're doing well.

Mum really likes him. She met him before Dad because we went in to have dinner at Mum's work just as her shift was ending.

I had to bring Dominic home to meet Dad and I was a bit nervous about it! Dad loves to give any guy we bring home a hard time.

We thought we had a couple of hours to ourselves, so we were cuddling on the couch when we heard Dad's car pull up in the driveway. We had to jump up mighty fast. We weren't doing anything but even that would have lost Dominic some points right there.

It's weird how much Dad likes Dominic. He's usually suspicious of any guys we bring home. He hated Gordon for a long time (admittedly, he had his reasons), he was weird about Maia's ex, Nick at first and he never did get around to liking Nathan.

He just loves Dominic though! I'm so relieved. I'm always worried Dad will scare guys off.

I'm going to miss Dominic so much next year. He's still got a year of high school left and he's not planning on going to college after that.

We haven't been together long but we're going to try the long distance relationship thing next year and hope for the best!

Notes:
  • Title is from Sea Legs by The Shins.
  • Tessa is graduating high school with an A-, which is better than her so-called Knowledge Sim best friend Rebecca (she got a B). She earned 4 scholarships, so she'll be heading off to Suffolk with Rebecca next round.
  • This house was decorated for the May Project at N99, which was to make over a Maxis house in retro style (I've adjusted it so that it is slightly less retro than it was). The original house was 170 Sim Lane in Pleasantview. Evan and Ione live in the Novaks' old house.
  • I think Tessa and Dominic are adorable together. They're both pretty nice and previously dated mean Sims (Nathan for Tessa and Nathan's sister Hope for Dominic), so I figured they could use a break. ;)

15 comments:

  1. Good for Tessa graduating with near perfect grades. That's amazing. I agree, those two do look cute together.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I agree with you; Dominic and Tessa actually make a super cute couple, and Dad approves! What more do you need?

    But lol at Rebecca holding a grudge against Nathan. Now that's a friend.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Apple Valley, I would have picked Tessa for being more like Maia, study-wise, but she's pretty studious for a Pleasure Sim! I'm very impressed.

    Lunar, I think Dad liking your boyfriend is probably a minus for some girls but the Novak girls are all very fond of their dad and his approval is important to them, even if the overbearingness is a bit much at times.

    Heh, Rebecca's a good friend! I think she just wants an excuse to bitch at someone. She does love doing that!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Well done Tessa for graduating with such good grades! I can't believe she and Rebecca are going off to college.

    Tessa and Dominic are such a sweet couple. They deserve nice partners after those mean ones!

    Rebecca reminds me of couple of my friends when we were in high school. They sure gave my ex-boyfriend a hard time!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Tessa really did great in school, such high grades!
    Tessa and Dominic do look cute together!

    I love the family's garden, it looks so nice!
    And the interior of their house is looking good too..

    I'm sorry to ask, but where do you get your decorations. I always seem to use the maxis' ones that came with the game, and I'm dying to get more!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Their backyard is amazing! I can imagine so many awesome family reunions back there.

    I was happy to see Maia, seems like ages since we've touched base with her. That's funny that her Dad likes Dominic, he is a pretty likable kid, and I think him and Tess are adorable together. One year in Sullivan isn't really that horrible. And though he's not intending on college, adults have more freedom than teens to work on relationships.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Sari, me either! Tessa and Rebecca were the first babies born under the new calendar, so it seems quite amazing that they're now old enough for college!

    LOL, well, that's what friends are for, eh?

    Tanja, I'm looking forward to playing Tessa and Dominic as adults to see what they get up to. It's not long away for either of them.

    Thanks for the compliments on the house. It's really hard to say where I get my decorations from though, as they come from so many different sites! I also end up getting a lot of them from house downloads, so I don't really know where some are from. If there's ever anything specific you want to know about though, please feel free to ask and I can check in game to see if there's any info.

    Maisie, hopefully, I'll get to do a few more family reunions at this place, because I'm going to try playing and updating on my empty nesters this coming round! I'm attached enough to my Sims now that I think I'll miss these ones if I stop playing them.

    It has been a while for Maia, now that I think of it, probably since her own update which I think was in Winter 2025!

    I think Dominic is probably pretty parent-friendly. He's very non-threatening, lol!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I love their new house! And the twins are so cute playing in the backyard. :)

    Wow, I can't believe Jace actually likes one of his daughters' boyfriends the first time he meets him. ;) But Tessa and Dominic are a cute couple! I hope the long distance thing works out for them.

    ReplyDelete
  9. In this specific update I like the decorations on the TV; the plant in the box and the 2 small vases...

    ReplyDelete
  10. Shana, Jace might be softening a little in his old age. Becoming a grandfather can do that to you. ;)

    Tanja, I'll check those in game for you today, as I can't tell you offhand where those things come from.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Tanja, the 2 small vases are one object and the info says it's from http://jaue.com/avalon

    The plant in the cage is by lmhwjs, so you should find it at Clutter-a-holic.

    http://lmhwjs.wordpress.com/

    Feel free to ask about anything else you see - I don't mind. :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Aww I'm happy for Tessa and Dominic. They *are* cute together. I hope the relationship works out, at least for a little while. Yay for Jace liking him! He's a keeper! And congrats to Tessa for getting an A-. I know she worked her butt off for that.

    I keep forgetting that Tessa, Maia and Lia are sisters. Tessa's black hair continuously throws me off. I really like the house and the backyard looks great. So spacious.

    And Rebecca is a good friend lol. Too funny that she's giving Nathan a hard time and she had nothing to do with it.

    You said you have a hack that allows kids to shop at OFB businesses? I need to find that hack because the kids look so cute in the shops.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Danielle, I think Jace likes Dominic as much as Arianna and Liam like Claudia. And they love Claudia!

    Tessa, Maia and Lia are my favourite sibling set in terms of genetics. They all look different from each other but there's a strong family resemblance as well. Maia and Lia's hair is more of an anomaly than Tessa's. Magdalena has a blonde gene but I'm still not sure how! She has no blonde ancestors.

    I do have a hack like that but you might need to post a WCIF at N99 for it. I downloaded it a long, long time ago and I have no clue where! But it's adorable, as you can see. I always imagine the kids coming and shopping for presents for their parents' birthdays or something.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Jace's shop is looking great! Love the doors in it especially, very green-house like! :)

    LOL, Maia's an old maid already at 24! Poor girl, lol!

    So Jace finally approves of one of them! Maybe he's softening up in his later years. Tessa and Dominic are cute! Hopefully they'll do okay at the long distance thing.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Laura, Jace's shop is one of my favourites. I only decorated the inside. The exterior was all pretty already. :)

    LOL, Maia the old maid! I ducked back into this house to pay her first semester's tuition and Jace and Magdalena had BOTH rolled up the want for a relative to get engaged. All of their relatives are either already married or too young (including Tessa, because I hadn't sent her to college yet). So yeah...no prizes for figuring out whose engagement news they're waiting for! Poor Maia!

    Jace just took to Dominic right away, so he must be becoming a bit of a softie now that he's a grandfather! Or maybe he just figures if he really wants his daughters to get married, he should probably NOT try to scare away potential suitors!

    ReplyDelete