Saturday 27 November 2010

Lay it down

Round 29: April 2030 (Autumn)
Rob Ashton is 29 and Patience Draper is 28.
(Rose is 35 and Josie is 28)

Narrated by Patience Draper

Rob and I have been in our little unit now for over a year and everything's going so well.


It was a bit of an adjustment for me though, I admit. I've never really done the apartment thing before and we seem to have the noisiest neighbours in the world. I don't know how people can find so many reasons to drag their furniture around but these people never stop.

I found them really annoying at first but I'm sort of used to them now. Banging on the wall usually shuts them up for a while at least.

We're very happy here now. I love having Rob around all the time.

It's really best if I stay out of the kitchen, so it's nice having someone to make me breakfast every day too.

We've got a little garden here and we both started thinking that it would be great for us, if we're still here when we have a child.

Rob and I have had that conversation, just recently. We both want to have kids, though we're not exactly in agreement on how many we'll have. Rob thinks he'd like two, maybe three.

I'm thinking more like eight, maybe nine! I would love to have a huge family.

Rob thinks I'm nuts. Maybe I am! I know we probably won't have that many kids but it's kind of a crazy dream of mine anyway.

Rob has been working so hard at the firm, even doing research at home in his own time. They kept telling him as soon as there was a position open for an attorney, he'd be first in line.

His hard work finally paid off because he's practising for real finally! He's handling personal injury cases at the moment.

I'm very proud of him. He paid his own way through law school and really paid his dues, so it's about time he was recognised for it.

We're both making a lot more money now and we're trying to save it all, seeing we now have a wedding to plan! Rob took me on a walk around the neighbourhood one night and he proposed!

I suppose I knew it was coming eventually, because we've been moving in that direction for a while now but I didn't know when or how.

So it was still sort of a surprise.

We've already set a date. We're getting married in January next year.

Rose came over to congratulate us and we talked a little about the artificial insemination she'll be going through in a couple of months.

It all sounds so involved and I really don't envy Rose and Joanna. But they want another child and this is the method they've chosen this time.

Possibly being pregnant at the time was the main reason Rose declined when I asked her to be my bridesmaid. She's not sure how long it will take but they're hoping she'll be pregnant by the end of the year.

So I begged. I really, really would like her to be a part of the wedding, so I promised to have Josie take care of most of the bridesmaid duties.

Rose realised how important it was to me then and she agreed.

We've been dress shopping a few times. I did some modelling jobs on the side recently for a bridal designer and got to wear a bunch of gowns, so I was keen on try some on for real.

I think part of the reason Rose didn't have a wedding party when she got married is because she dreaded the idea of shopping for them all. I can tell her patience is wearing a tiny bit thin with the shopping I'm doing but she's being very tolerant of it all, for my sake!

I can't help it, I think this stuff is so much fun!

When I got home from shopping, it was around lunch time but Rob was home. I knew it wasn't his day off, so something was up.

And I was right. Rob had picked up a client with a worker's compensation claim. He had encouraged the client to sue just for medical expenses but she kept pushing for compensatory damages as well.

So he agreed. Then it turned out that the injury was the client's fault, his firm decided that Rob losing the lawsuit would reflect badly on them, so they fired him.

Rob's taking this pretty hard. He found a position at another law firm as a file clerk but he's convinced no one will ever want him as a lawyer again.

I know that's not true though. Rob would be an asset to any firm and eventually, someone will see that!

Extras:
Just in case you're curious about Rob's firing, it was chance card related. I'm usually quite lucky with them but not this time!

It was not really a good round for chance cards for Rob and Patience, because Patience got a bad one too.


I didn't bother writing that one in though, because she got promoted the same day and came home with $4000. The wages she lost hardly mattered at all.

Notes:
  • Title is from Lay It Down by Peter, Bjorn and John.
  • Patience really does want 9 kids, per my modified version of Apple Valley's method of assigning ACR Ideal Family Size (my modification is just that I apply the formula using the Sim's primary aspiration, then their secondary and then I average it). Patience is very nice, very outgoing and she has Family Secondary and those are the three main factors that make Sims want to have a lot of kids, per that method. They won't be having 9 kids if I have anything to say about it, but I'm curious to see if they'll try again once they reach Rob's ideal of 2.
  • Patience and Rob have both had the want to get married for a long time now but I was enjoying playing Patience with Claudia and Josie, so I waited until now to let them get engaged.
  • The wedding will still go ahead in January 2031. Even with Rob losing his job, they can still afford this. They managed to amass about $10,000 this round, because Patience got promoted twice. I usually restrict promotions to 1 per round but for some careers, it seems realistic that you could progress faster. So I'm imagining Patience got a role as the lead voice for some big Disney-type movie and then got a supporting role in a live action movie based on that.
  • I was going to leave Rob unemployed but I checked the computer for jobs and Law was there and I thought I'd better grab it! It might never pop up again, so Rob will just have to work his way up the ladder. Again.

18 comments:

  1. Yay another wedding! I actually shouted "woohoow" out loud when I saw that picture, and Lola (the cat) ran away, anyway, I'm so happy for them, they look so sweet together, they always have, and I'm sure they always will! They are one of my favourite couples in Sullivan.
    Poor Rob loosing his job because his client failed to tell him the truth, and I'm with Patience here, that someone will see that this wasn't his fault.

    Lol at Patience wanting 9 kids! Maybe they should comprimise on the number of children they are going to have, but I think 9 is a little to much of a good thing!

    Personally I think Maxis took the noisy neighbors a little too far! I live in an appartment myself, and my neighbors make noise sometimes, but they don't wake me in the middle of the night. In game I always make sure to place as much things to the walls as possible :)

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  2. WOW Patience probably should have started sooner if she wanted 9 kids! I'm going to go through my sims right now with AV's tut, and figure out how many they all want.

    I'm excited for their wedding, though it's too bad that Rob has to work his way back up the ladder! He's got the job of a 20 year old, poor guy.

    Their apartment is uber adorable, is there room for a baby to live there? the yard is great for one anyway!

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  3. LOL! Patience wants 9 kids! Wow. I like how you added in the secondary aspirations-I thought about that, but not all of my sims have secondary aspirations. *Hmmm, swiping your idea*

    I feel so sad for Rob losing his job so soon after he started. I want to just hug him, he looked so sad on the sofa.

    I am excited that the wedding is still on without any changes, yay! Can't wait! I love all your weddings, the photos are always so beautiful.

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  4. Tanja, LOL, that's hilarious! Poor Lola though! Patience and Rob are really great together. Definitely not something I was expecting when they ACR woohooed in the dorm when Patience was 18 or 19!

    As for Rob's job, they're lucky Patience makes such good money. File clerk pay is so crap - I think he gets like $120 a day! A far cry from what he was making as an attorney, but Patience is very supportive, emotionally and financially!

    I think they'll definitely need to compromise on kids. I do not have any houses that would fit 11 people and I'm not planning on downloading or building any either! I think the number of kids they end up having will be much closer to Rob's ideal than Patience's.

    Well, EAxis tend to overdo everything, so it wouldn't surprise me! It just depends on what kind of neighbours you get, I suppose. Normally, I place objects right up against the wall as well but I'm not too bothered in this case, as the noise isn't affecting the bedroom.

    Maisie, LOL, I know, right? I doubt many women start having babies at 28 and end up with 9 (although I'm sure they have been some). I think Rob and Patience will end up with much fewer children than that!

    Rob's ego would have to be at least slightly bruised right now. Four years of law school and then working as an actual lawyer, only to be forced into taking a job as a file clerk. :( Poor Rob. I'll probably play him at least once more this round, just because I don't think it's realistic for him to be stuck as a file clerk for too long.

    The apartment building is the Cinderblock Rowhomes from Apple Valley and is really lovely. And yes, there is room for a baby but only one! The room where they have the computer could be converted to a nursery and there'd still be room for the PC in the bedroom.

    Apple Valley, heh, swipe away! Most of my Sims have secondary aspirations, though some don't. I always end up adding one eventually though.

    I can't imagine working as hard as Rob has and then to have it all come crashing down. At a very inopportune time too, with the wedding coming up. They'll make it, but they won't have as much money left over as they otherwise might have.

    I already have a few details picked out for this wedding, including Patience's dress (which is not the one she's trying on in this update) and the bridesmaid dresses. I even made sure the bridesmaid dresses were maternity ready, in case Rose is knocked up by January!

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  5. *chants* Wedding. Wedding. Wedding. LOL Yes! Another one. Too bd Rob got fired. I HATE that chance card, Fatima got it a long time ago, before she became a house wife. That's how she lost her job as well. At least he's working in the law field again, he'll get promoted in no time.

    I can't wait until they have a baby. I think they will make beautiful ones.

    As for ideal family, it's all up to the sim. I have sims who have it set to one baby, both partners, and they still try for baby on their own. And then I have sims who have 5+ set, and they never try for baby.

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  6. Nine children. Ha! Let's see how she feels after getting through the birth of her first one before she'd want to go through it eight more times.

    Hopefully Rob doesn't feel too emasculated from Patience's success. Men get funny like that.

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  7. Poor Rob! I think it's realistic that he got fired for that chance card and then got rehired at another firm at a much lower position. He'll just have to prove himself all over again.

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  8. Riverdale, LOL! Yep, another one! Two more this round and already another one planned for next round. I'm excited!

    But yeah, the firing chance cards are brutal! Especially when you have as many custom careers as I do, because it can take literally forever for the desired job to come up again.

    Oh, man, Rob and Patience babies! I agree, I think they'll make some pretty stunning children.

    That's interesting! I haven't played much with couples who have different ideals but usually, if I have a couple who both want more kids, they'll try every time! Unless they're getting towards middle age and then I find that they try much less often.

    Choco, LOL, I know! She might decide one is enough after experiencing childbirth for the first time!

    Men can get funny like that. I think Rob is the type to feel tremendous guilt that he's not the main breadwinner right now. I don't think he'd resent Patience for her own success, though some men definitely would.

    Lunar, I think it's realistic too, especially seeing he was a newly minted lawyer when he got fired. It wouldn't have seemed so realistic if Rob had been working for 20 years, because he would have built up more of a reputation. I probably would have cheated him up a little, in that case. ;)

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  9. LOL I forgot that Patience wants a billion kids. I love the look on Rob's face when she told him how many she wants. Yikes. Yes, you are a little nuts, hun. But I bet they'd make beautiful children so I hope they have at least 4 ;) lol.

    Man that sucks about Rob's chance card :\. At least he has all the skill points to work his way up quickly. But man, that's a blow to a man's ego. Especially right after getting engaged. But yay! Another wedding! Looking forward to it as always!

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  10. Danielle, a billion, nine...what's the difference, eh? Yeah, Patience is insane! I think they'll definitely have at least a couple of kids though.

    I know, poor Rob. He's nursing a bruised ego right now but he'll work his way back again, even if he doesn't think he will right now.

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  11. okay so you already know about my crush on patience, so this update was heaven.

    I jumped up too. another wedding by Carla! And it's Patience, so you know it's going to be FABULOUS.

    im happy they are engaged, and i do hope that Rob can overcome starting over. It must be hard since Patience is so successful.

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  12. bbop, if I was a boy, I'd probably have a bit of a crush on Patience myself! Glad you enjoyed it.

    The dress I've chosen for Patience is one that I've tried on a few brides before and it didn't work on any of them. I think Patience can probably pull it off though. Might be hard to find bridesmaid dresses to complement it though! But I'm looking forward to doing the wedding!

    Rob will get through this. He'll get promoted again and being a practising attorney again might not seem so far away. But his confidence is shot now, understandably.

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  13. Patience looks great in that wedding dress. Congrats to them on their upcoming marriage and she might be reaching too high with 9 kids.

    Those chance cards will get you everytime. Poor Rob, hopefully he'll be able to work up the ladder faster this time.

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  14. Nicole, LOL, I thought you were a new person until I hovered over your name!

    Patience does suit that wedding dress but I've picked out a different one for her. ;) That one is pretty but I feel like it's a bit generic for her and she'd want something more unusual.

    She and Rob are so not having 9 kids! I've never let my Sims have more than 5 in Sullivan. If she's lucky, I might let her be one of them!

    I'm normally quite lucky with the chance cards but Rob just got the short end of the stick this time. He's got all the necessary skills though, so it shouldn't be too hard for him to get promoted back to where he was. Assuming I don't get any more unlucky chance cards!

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  15. Patience wants 8 or 9 kids?! Eeek!

    Oh wow, Patience as a bride will be too much--she's so beautiful!

    Oh no...poor Rob! That's so wrong! He worked so hard.

    Well, if nothing else I'm glad their wedding won't be put off.

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  16. Rachel, I know, right? Patience is lucky Rob didn't run out the door when she said that!

    I don't know if I can tell you how excited I am to do a wedding for Patience. Um...yeah, and Rob, I guess. Dressing the girls is always so much more fun! The wedding is pretty much going ahead because I say so, lol. If it had turned out they wouldn't have the money for it, I would have had Patience go and beg Daddy to pay. Because she would and he would, lol!

    I still have to go in and play these two a little more and let Rob get promoted. If I use my "one promotion per round" rule with him, it'll probably take another 10 years for him to be practising again, which isn't realistic.

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  17. 9 kids. Oh my! I bet they'll have more than two though, because in my game it seems that the female's ideal family size counts more. Or maybe it's just my imagination.

    I'm so excited about this wedding! It's going to be fabulous.

    Poor Rob. Those chance cards can be so brutal but I'm sure he'll work his way up again.

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  18. Sari, oh, yeah? Interesting! I don't seem to have many couples who have different ideals where one half has met it, so I'll be interested to see what Rob and Patience do.

    LOL, part of the reason I scheduled the wedding so early next round is because I was excited. So much fun!

    I managed to get Rob up to Legal Secretary when I popped in the other day, so he's already working his way back up the ladder. :)

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