Monday 18 April 2011

I hope tomorrow is like today

Round 30: December 2032 (Summer)
Gordon Nott is 36, Lia is 35, Annabel and Georgina are both 8 and Gabriel is 5.
(Jace is 75, Magdalena is 68, Maia is 30 and Ethan is 26)

Narrated by Lia Nott

November is one of Gordon's busiest months with law school, so we have both been incredibly stressed lately. Gordon works all day and then at night and for most of the weekend, he either has classes or he studies.

Meanwhile, I'm doing the majority of the child-rearing at the moment. I like spending time with the kids but it's hard work on your own.

Especially with Gabriel's new habit of "forgetting" his homework until it's 8 o'clock and almost time for bed.

I know it's hard on Gordon as well. It's usually 1am by the time he crawls into bed and he's been so exhausted.

So I'm being supportive, while simultaneously counting the days until he graduates.

Gordon has just turned in his final paper of the year and now our nights and weekends are ours again, at least for a little while.

I can't tell you how nice it is to have my husband back again.

Over the past few years, Gordon and I haven't had much time one on one.

We're definitely taking advantage of all the time we have to ourselves now, once we get the kids in bed.

Because of law school, Gordon and I have very little cash to spend this Christmas. I didn't know how I was going to afford presents for the kids, until Ione offered to teach me how use her toymaking equipment.

Ione used to play around a lot with toymaking in college and she got so good at it that she ended up buying all her own gear once she graduated.

I'm nowhere near as good at it as she is but with some of her guidance, I managed to make some cute toys for the kids.

Everything is wrapped now, ready for Christmas Day.

This year, Maia and Ethan is inviting everyone over to their place for Christmas. She's excited about it, because it's the first time she's hosted anything big since they got their own place but she wanted to check I wasn't planning anything myself.

I'm more than happy to let her do it though! It's such a relief that we won't be stuck with the preparation and clean-up this time.

Gordon was a bit dubious when I told him Maia would be doing the cooking.

Ethan's been teaching her how to cook though, so I'm sure it'll be fine! It can't be any worse than what Gordon used to eat before we got married anyway.

On Christmas morning, we woke up to three very excited children! Gordon and I were up fairly early but the kids had been awake since before sunrise.

The rule has always been breakfast before presents but every year, Georgina and Annabel get up early anyway and now that Gabriel is old enough, he joins them.

The presents, thankfully, were a huge hit.

Gordon and I weren't sure if we'd ever be able to drag them into the car to get to Maia's house.

But the kids love their aunty and they knew they'd be in for more presents at her place anyway.

It's never a particularly hard sell to get the kids to go and see Maia.

They totally idolise Ethan as well.

I was a little embarrassed when Georgina asked Ethan when he was going to marry Aunty Maia already.

No prizes for guessing who put her up to that! Mum is lucky that Maia is usually fairly good-natured about her nagging, because she doesn't really ever let up.

I'm not going to nag but I wouldn't mind seeing a wedding one day. Maia and Ethan are really good together.

At the moment though, Maia seems pretty happy with things the way they are.

I'm still surprised to see my sister getting at all domestic. Spaghetti isn't exactly a traditional Christmas food but it's the extent of Maia's repertoire right now.

And we all enjoyed the meal anyway. All three kids cleaned their plates and Gabriel even wanted seconds.

He was on his best behaviour all day too - he helped clear the tables after we were all done eating.

With Christmas over for another year, Gordon and I are trying to spend as much time as we can together, and with the kids. Classes for next year start in March, so our schedules will soon be all out of whack again. But next year is also the last year. After that, we can hopefully have time as a family more regularly.


Spam:
LOL, forgot to label this as "spam" at first! You can tell I was sick when I put this together!






Notes:
  • Title is from I Hope Tomorrow Is Like Today by Guster.
  • First of all, I'm not too well at the moment, so it may or may not take me a while to reply to your comments. I will reply but right now, I can never tell how long I'll be able to stay on the computer for before getting giddy. When I'm feeling better, I'm going to finish the birthdays and finally start the new round!
  • Gordon and Lia were really enjoying their break from Gordon's studies; they were ACRing so much that I had to check I didn't have it set to Brothel! I didn't - apparently, they just really, really missed each other!

23 comments:

  1. How sweet are these two! I'm so glad that everything ended up working out so well, they really work for their family and home, but seem to really love each other and can make it work. I like that about them. I was just playing with the booth options last night for an upcoming update, how sweet are they!?! I love the booth interactions. Wish they could do that in other places, like the bed/sofa without the booth.

    Their Christmas was really nice, and I thought it was pretty great that Maia stepped into that role, and that Lia didn't mind relinquishing control. She really must be tired! Her outfit is gorgeous and so fitting for her, and I giggled a little that Gordon matched, it was like Lia picked out his clothes. ;) They are definitely one of those types of couples that clothes would match too.

    I hope you are feeling better soon! I can tell fall weather is headed your way, quite a few Aussie's have colds right now on this other forum I visit.

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  2. I remember November in Australia, it was really stressful with final exams and papers, I don't miss it...except when switching schools in different hemispheres, if you time it correctly you can bypass winter all together and get two spring breaks :P

    I couldn't tell that you were sick with this update, it's so well done. I love the presents and I kept racking my mind for the mesh that Lia was wearing. It's an AL maxis mesh right? Oh, I remember now!!! It's the funky colored AL mesh with the strange texture bump. Wow, it looks amazing here, whoever did the recolor is talented and creative to turn the one piece dress into a two-piece suit, very smart.

    The kids are such cuties and Lia did a great job with the toys. I'm anxious to get back to my game, but until then I'll live vicariously through your game :P

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  3. Well, that normally happens. LOL They were very happy to have that extra time with each other. I love it when couples that don't spend that much time together do it on their own with ACR. I think it's too cute.

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  4. Maisie, I really adore Lia and Gordon, as well as their cute little family. They're having a tough time with their finances right now but they're still pretty happy, on the whole.

    Have you got the invisible dining booth recolours? It would be nice to have the booth animations available everywhere but the invisible recolours are a good substitute. You can pretend at least.

    Lia letting Maia do Christmas was partly because she was tired and partly because she's surprised/proud at her little sister wanting to do something so domestic. It's not something that's happened too often before!

    LOL, I didn't notice the matching outfits until after I'd already played through the update but you're right...Lia is totally the type to pull something like that. And Gordon's the type to not even notice. ;) I wish I could tell you where I got that outfit. :\ It comes in three different colours/patterns and the only info I have is that it's by ukpoppyberry. I haven't been able to track down where that creator has their stuff now.

    I'm feeling a lot better today, thank you! I think it might have been mild food poisoning. Taking it easy for a while but I think I'll be okay.

    Thanks for reading!

    Apple Valley, yeah, November is a busy time for students here! Pity Gordon isn't switching between hemispheres, or else he could have two spring breaks as well. ;) Regardless, he's only got one more year to go and then he's done.

    Thanks! I did most of the writing before I got sick. All the picture uploading and editing was done during though...with many breaks!

    I'm not too sure whether the mesh is an AL one or not. As I told Maisie, the info only has the creator's name and I don't seem to be able to find what site they're with any more. It's a good outfit for my more conservative or older Sims though.

    Hope you can get back to your own game soon but I'm glad to be able to feed your addiction a little with my own game. ;)

    Thanks for reading!

    Riverdale, yeah, I thought it was pretty cute too. I was thinking "Aww, you guys really are in love, aren't you?" Sometimes Sims are just much more human than you realise.

    Thanks for reading!

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  5. I love these two together. :) And their kids are so cute.
    I also like the idea of Lia making toys for the children. Did Ione instruct her? And did she have a badge already, so she could make every toy she wanted?

    Also, because I wanted to have those dresses as well and because sharing is caring, here they are:
    Poppy's Creations at CC4Sims. It was really quite hard to track them down, as she has scattered her stuff all over the web :D

    Finally: get well soon! :)

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  6. Aw, I'm glad they all had such a great Christmas. Gordon and Lia are really sweet together, so it's good that they finally got to spend some time together without his studies and work getting in the way. And I love that Lia made toys for the kids. :)

    I hope you feel better!

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  7. Oh I remember the days when I used to leave my homework until late evenings the night before school! I thoroughly enjoyed this, as it brought back some little memories!

    It must be tiring for both Gordon and Lia with law school but hopefully he'll reap the rewards of it once he's finished! ;)

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  8. Oh, and I hope you'll be 100% again soon!

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  9. Oh when did these two get to be almost 40?! Time flies! This was a very cute post, and I loved that she made all the kids presents :). I can't wait to see Gordon practicing law! Hope you feel better soon, being sick sucks on so many levels!

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  10. Karolin, thanks for the well wishes!

    Lia and Gordon have themselves a pretty adorable family, don't they? As for Lia making the toys, no, Ione didn't instruct her. That was posed, because I couldn't get her to actually do it, even with allmenus. So she's using the Instruct animations from Jaydee's Free Time box. Lia did earn the gold badge to make the toys, but I had her use Ione's computer (Monique's) instead, because it's cheaper and faster than using the bench.

    And thank you so much for tracking down that link! Never would have found it myself and it looks like there are even three other colours of that outfit which are also very nice! :)

    Thanks for reading!

    Shana, feeling much better now than I was when I put this post together!

    It was nice that Gordon's Christmas break was actually a break and not just more work, seeing Maia took on hosting duties this year. Lia making the toys for the kids was really just because they literally could not afford to buy anything but I think it's a very Lia thing to do anyway.

    Thanks for reading!

    Shake, thanks for the well wishes!

    Ha, let's just say I didn't pull that homework thing out from nowhere! ;) It was partly game play though. Gabriel likes to leave his homework at about 60% done...behind the couch, where no one will see it, including me!

    Thanks for reading!

    Mizzgin03, thanks, I'm just waiting for my appetite to return to normal! Still don't feel like eating much except Vegemite crackers!

    I know, right? Lia and Gordon are approaching middle age! It's crazy. I had such a great time with this gang when they were in college. I'm still having a lot of fun with them raising their families as well though, which is nice.

    Thanks for reading!

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  11. Poor Lia and Gordon--but hopefully his time and energy invested in law school will be worth it. It's nice to see they haven't grown apart though. :)

    I bet it was a relief to have the holiday festivities over at Maia's house--I'm glad it was a success!

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  12. i just think it's so cute that they are matching clothes!

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  13. Rachel, I hope so as well. Gordon isn't really very invested in journalism, which is what he's doing now, so I think he's keen to get finished with law school and get out there. And Lia will be happy for him as well, when that happens.

    It's always nice when someone else has to clean up, right? Maybe Maia can aim higher than spaghetti bolognaise next time she hosts, lol.

    Thanks for reading!

    LaurelCrossing, yeah but I think Lia and Gordon are pretty cute in general. ;)

    Thanks for reading!

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  14. That is too cute how they’re all dressed alike, planned or not. :) They are such a cute looking family.

    I’m glad that Gordon finally got a little break from studying (lmao that you had to check that the house wasn’t set to brothel by mistake) and that they had a nice Christmas. That has to be hard on any parent to have so many kids but can’t go out and buy them everything they want. But the presents were cute and the kids loved them which is all that matters.

    I really liked seeing Maia play hostess for Christmas with her fancy spaghetti dinner. That’s something I would do lol! And I know you want to calm down with the babies soon but I can’t wait for Maia and Ethan’s kids. I’m really curious to see what their children will look like.

    And yes, thank you Karoline for that link. I snagged Lia’s outfit and a few other things!

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  15. Danielle, they really are! I've been looking back at old pictures lately and I forgot how adorable the girls were when they were toddlers. I just wanted to pinch their little cheeks!

    Gordon and Lia are doing a little better with money after this play session but they really had to tighten their belts over Christmas! I was meaning to do presents for the adults the next time I did Christmas, but seeing things were so hard with money already, I figured Lia and Gordon might forego presents for each other this year anyway.

    Oh, I really do want to see Maia and Ethan's kids as well! I would love it if Maia got pregnant this round. Lia's not having any more babies, so she's my only chance to pass on Magdalena's nose! Lia's kids all got Gordon's, which I was actually pleased about at the time but looking back, I wish at least one had got hers!

    Thanks for reading!

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  16. Aw, how cute! This family is totally adorable, and it's so cute that Lia learnt how to create toys for the kids! *swoon* By the way, I haven't followed when Gordon was dating with Ione, but it seems they all get on pretty well nowadays? The kids are really beautiful!

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  17. Awwww, what a sweet update! The christmas looked really sweet!
    I'm glad Gordon and Lia are finally able to spend time together again. Looks their taking real advantage of it! Lol.
    Feel better and can't wait for the next update!

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  18. Sandy, I actually thought that Lia already knew how to make toys before I started playing. It just seems so her! But then I remembered I had her working on robots instead. Which I never use, apart from the tiny toy ones, so it's a bit pointless! The toys are much more useful!

    As for Gordon and Ione, there's never really been a time when they didn't get along. There was never any fighting or anything - they sort of just grew apart in their first year of college. By the time Lia was ready to take up with Gordon, Ione was head over heels for Evan. She gave her blessing but she didn't really care much. I probably would have written it a little differently these days though.

    Thanks for reading!

    coolkat2, Christmas is always fun to do. The two Christmases I have planned this round will be a little different, as I'm doing one with an empty nester family and one with a family with teens.

    Ha, yes, Lia and Gordon certainly were taking advantage of Gordon's break! If she wasn't on BC, she would have got knocked up for sure, lol! Next proper update will be written today, for release tomorrow. :)

    Thanks for reading!

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  19. Poor Lia, it can't be easy to be left in charge of everything for most of the time. I think she's doing great though and it's nice that she and Gordon got to spend some quality time together.

    I didn't notice the matching outfits but I often do that too without even realizing! Lia's outfit looks really nice, I'm glad Karolin provided the link.

    I also have a WCIF, if you don't mind. I love Lia and Gordon's dining chairs so do you remember where you got them? They look familiar but I can't remember where I've seen them before.

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  20. Sari, Gordon's absence has been difficult for Lia but she's probably lucky she's raising her kids and not say, Asha's! These three aren't total brats, at least, lol! One more year though and Gordon will be back on a more regular schedule.

    I'll have to check those chairs for you when I play tomorrow. I thought they were Holy Simoly but they're not. :\ I think they're from someone at MTS but I'll have a look in game when I get the chance.

    Thanks for reading!

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  21. Oh lovely! I'm biased anyway because I adore Lia, but what a cute little family. And the Christmas celebration, adorable. I love the way the family even went over to Maia's house for a proper family dinner. So sweet and so realistic!

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  22. I'm glad they were able to spend some time with the kids for Christmas! I loved the fact that they went to Maia's for dinner. I will soon post my very first SimsVille-Christmas, and I have to say it's not nearly as good as this one, but you've inspired me for the next one :)
    As I already said one twitter, I was really looking forward to the new banner, and I love it! It's very pretty!!
    I have (yet again) a WCIF, I absolutly love Lia's outfit, I think I have similar things, but not this one, do you remember where you got it?

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  23. Lunar, I'm probably the most biased of all with Lia! I've loved her since she was a teen and she really has made such a sweet little family.

    The whole extended family is fun for me as well, because they're all so close but they never bore me. I love getting them all together. Awww.

    Thanks for reading!

    Tanja, ooh, that's exciting, Christmas in SimsVille! I have a lot of fun with Christmas in my game. I can't believe I never did it before.

    I'm glad you like the banner. I had to do this one rather quickly, because my original idea didn't work out. I sort of combined ideas for this one!

    If you scroll back up to Karolin's reply, she was kind enough to post a link to Lia's outfit. You weren't the only one who liked it but I had no idea where I got it from! But at the link, there are 5 more similar outfits, as well as the one Lia's wearing. :)

    Thanks for reading!

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