Wednesday 13 April 2011

Sound of love

Round 30: November 2032 (Spring)
last update/next update

Jace Novak is 75 and Magdalena is 68.
(Gordon is 36, Lia is 35, Maia is 30, Ethan is 26, Annabel and Georgina are both 8 and Gabriel is 5)

Narrated by Magdalena Novak

Over the past month or so, I've spent a lot of time trying to keep Lia calm. I can be a worrier myself and Lia definitely inherited that from me. She's probably a thousand times worse though and often ends up becoming overwhelmed.


Right now, it's particularly bad. Gordon is wrapping up his third year of law school and is frantically studying and finishing off papers. He does most of his study on the weekend and both he and Lia work during the week, meaning Lia is almost like a sole parent on Saturdays and Sundays.

Jace and I have been trying to help her out by taking the kids off her hands when we can. It just gives her some time to do what she needs to do, even if it's just taking some time out to relax and read. They're such great kids and we're happy to take them anyway.

Jace would probably just be happy to hang around to house being silly with them all day.

I'd rather get out of the house and do something different with them instead. At the playground the other weekend, I met Caitlin, who's good friends with Georgina and Annabel and also my best friend's granddaughter.

Georgina is on the quieter side usually, but she's like a completely different little girl with Caitlin!

The kids really do surprise us sometimes. One afternoon, we almost started to panic when we couldn't find Annabel.

We were both terrified something awful had happened to her but no, she was perfectly safe.

It was Jace who finally spotted her up on the stage, singing for anyone who'd listen!

The aquarium was another new activity. All three kids enjoyed it but Annabel was really in her element.

I really can't wait to see what Annabel does when she gets older. I think she could surprise us all. She's still not terribly interested in school but she can rattle off facts about the ocean, plant life, animals and all number of things.

The kids are always full of beans when Lia and Gordon come to get them but after a break, they're both much more energised and ready to deal with them.

I keep subtly reminding Maia about that completely empty spare bedroom she and Ethan have in their house.

It really would be just perfect for a baby! I hate to say it but Maia is 30 now, and she can't leave things for too much longer!

That's usually when Maia reminds me that I was a full 15 years older than that when Tessa was born and that my friend Araminta was even older when she had her youngest.

We tend to have the same conversation every time we talk. Ethan always seems alternately confused and amused by it.

I don't think his parents are quite as crazy for grandchildren as Jace and I are. But then again, they're only in their 50s, so they're not as old as we are either. We'd just like a few more grandkids before we go.

Maia has told me that she and Ethan are planning on having kids eventually but she's a little nervous about it.

I don't know if Maia believes me but she would make a wonderful mother.

Everyone is lost at the start but you pick it up as you go along. And Maia certainly wouldn't be short on help.
I hope she thinks about it. And if she and Ethan want to get married as well, while they're at it, I'd just be over the moon!

Until this year, we hadn't touched a thing in Tessa's room and when she died, we never planned to. But the wallpaper in there was stained peeling so badly and it seemed wrong to leave it in such disrepair.

So we tore it down and repainted it. We kept the pink, seeing that was Tessa's favourite colour.

Tessa would have been 23 this year, so maybe her tastes would have been completely different by now but this is one way we can we remember her.

I guess from the outside, it might look like we are fixated on Tessa but I think we're doing well. We don't dwell on her death; we just like to talk about her, just like we talk about our other daughters.

It's taken us a while but we're at a point now where we go out and do things for pleasure, rather than just trying to get through the day. But we haven't really had the money to do many fun things before now.

It's nice to eat out at a restaurant again, seeing I spend so much cooking meals for everyone else at work.

I would really like to be thinking of retirement at this point in my life. I feel very old to still be working full time!
Jace feels the same way, I know. But before we retire, we'd like to save enough money to live on and maybe even take a little holiday somewhere.

We're not close to that point yet but we're waiting to see how Jace's new promotion turns out for us.

It's not something we were expecting, at his age, but someone needed a photographer on short notice for a fashion line. Fortunately for Jace, he was the only person she could find.

Everyone loved his work and he's been getting booking after booking lately. It pays a lot more than wedding photography, that's for sure!

Enough to retire on though? Well, we'll keep our fingers crossed and see how it's looking in a few years!

Outtakes:

Just an outtake from the intro portrait. I think Jace and Magdalena are so stinkin' cute!
See, look? Adorable!

This is just after Jace had grabbed Magdalena's ass, which the kids found hilarious. He did it over and over again while they had the kids with them and the kids laughed every single time. I've never seen that reaction before. Maybe when they're older, they won't find it so amusing!

Notes:
  • Title is from Sound of Love by James Iha.
  • Jace's promotion was from one of those AL social group townies. He's not even close to qualified for it but it pays about $500 more per day than his old job, so it was very welcome.
  • Lia is a pleasure to pose. I don't know why, but she always seems to be so co-operative! Oh, and I discovered a little posing tip that you guys may have already figured out for yourselves but I'll pass it on anyway. I always find it really difficult to get Sims to look down using Look at Player and for the picture of Lia reading, I was really frustrated because I couldn't even get the camera to go any lower at all. Then I had a brain wave: why not just move Lia up? She was already on a shiftable OMSP, so I popped her way up, got her to look in the direction I wanted and then froze her. It was so easy, I could have cried! I can't believe I never thought of it before!

23 comments:

  1. That last one of the kids laughing is just TOO cute! I'm not sure if I've ever seen anyone (kids or otherwise) laugh at an ass-grabbing, lol! I usually get either the cringe or the approve-nod.

    But awww! Jace and Magdalena are so sweet! :)

    And I'm glad to see them coming to some peace after losing Tessa as well.

    OMG @ your posing tip! That's genius! I can't believe I never thought of that either! lol!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh - I almost teared up when they talked about Tessa. I've never had kids laugh with the butt grab.

    Excellent read!

    ReplyDelete
  3. That is so cute with the little ones laughing. I wonder if they would do that with their parents? I can see them now telling their mommy and daddy how grandpa kept pintching granma's bum. giggle

    ReplyDelete
  4. That was an adorable pic of the kids at the end. Lol. I've never seen that reaction before, usually the kids are disgusted!
    I also think it was cute how they've kept Tessa's room how it was after all those years. I miss Tessa, she was so unique looking! Oh well, that's life, I guess.
    Anywho, great update!:)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Laura, I think maybe kids that age probably would find ass-grabbing funny, because they mightn't have picked up on any sexual connotation it might have yet - it's just Grandpa being silly. So maybe it's realistic. Whatever it is, I found it really funny!

    I love Jace and Magdalena. It feels strange to them, to have this peace without Tessa but it's a good thing for them to have finally. The round where Tessa died was the first time I decided to play my empty nesters. I think it was Jace and Magdalena who made me realise I could actually have fun with Sims even after all their kids leave home.

    I'm glad someone else will find that tip useful, because I was seriously thinking everyone else must have thought of it already. It seems so simple, doesn't it? I'm kind of excited to think of some other shot where I can test it out!

    Thanks for reading!

    Julie, Jace and Magdalena are still missing Tessa a lot but it's not raw any more, like it was when she first died. They're functional now. It sometimes doesn't feel like you'll ever feel functional again, when someone dies but usually, people manage to pick themselves up and trudge forward.

    Thanks for reading!

    Riverdale, LOL, I thought it was cute too! It makes a change from the "disapprove" I usually get. Or the creepy "approve"!

    If they went home and told their parents, I imagine Gordon would find it kind of funny and Lia would be scandalised! But then, it doesn't take much to scandalise Lia. ;)

    Thanks for reading!

    coolkat2, yeah, that's usually how it is in my game too. I'm going to have Gordon grab Lia's butt in front of the kids and see if they still find it funny, lol!

    I miss Tessa too. :( I'm hoping when Maia has kids, she passes her eyes on. Tessa had the same eyes - they're from Jace. I think the room will probably stay mostly as it is now, for as long as the Novaks are living there anyway.

    Thanks for reading!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hehe, I wonder if Jace just did that to amuse them :P

    That picture of Jace dancing with Gabriel is just so stinkin' cute!

    I'm happy they still talk about Tessa but they're not obsessed. It's really sad to think that she could have had a life of her own :(

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love reading your posts, you're a great writer.
    At least they can slowly rebuild themselves, it's never going to be easy but Tessa wouldn't want them to be miserable forever.

    I loved the outakes, they seem so deep in love, it's adorable!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I'm glad you included their thoughts about Tessa in the update and the past few ones as well on how everyone is coping, sometimes when sims die, we don't hear about them again, especially since most sims stop mourning the next day.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I love Jace and Magdalena and they're so cute together. They're such good grandparents too, so Maia needs to get to work on giving them some more grandkids to play with, lol! ;)

    I'm glad to see that they're doing well and coming to terms with losing Tessa while still keeping her memory alive.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I love Jace and Magdalena, they are very sweet together. It's nice to see them being kind of able to move on after Tessa's death. I don't think I would be able to do something with her room either, except change the walls.

    I love seeing these 2 with their grandchildren! And just like Magdalena I wouldn't mind seeing Maia with some kids :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Oh my! How stinking cute are those kids laughing at Jace grabbing her tush!! I can just hear them laughing about it.

    These two are super sweet together, I really liked the photo of them walking arm in arm. I always feel sad for them that they lost Tessa. :( I like seeing them finding joy in their lives nonetheless. They really seem to enjoy the grandkids.

    I love the one when Lia and Gordon come back to get the kids, so fun.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Flit, ha, he just might have! I've never seen so much ass grabbing from Jace as I did on their little outing with the grandkids, lol. He's a fun grandpa.

    Jace and Magdalena see Tessa as one of their children, just like her surviving sisters. They won't forget her. It would have been lovely if she'd lived, if only to take some pressure off Maia with the grandkids. ;)

    Thanks for reading!

    Driftwood Valley, that's so nice of you to say. But yes, Tessa was a cheerful person and she wouldn't want anyone wallowing for too long.

    Jace and Magdalena have one of the highest natural attraction scores in Sullivan. They've been together for almost 50 years and married for just over 40, so it's a long-lasting thing they've got here too. They're very sweet.

    Thanks for reading!

    Apple Valley, I confess, that's something I forget to do sometimes, especially with elder deaths! I think the death of a child is probably most parents' worst nightmare though and maybe the hardest thing to get over, if they ever do.

    Thanks for reading!

    Shana, they really are adorable! Jace and Magdalena both have a big "Relative Gets Engaged" want. Apart from their grandchildren, who are too young, they only have one relative who could possibly get engaged. No prizes for guessing who that is!

    I'll turn Try for Baby on for Ethan and Maia next round and see if they try on their own.

    Thanks for reading!

    Tanja, I'm going to leave that room now, as a kind of tribute to Tessa. Susannah and Rebecca also have a wall hanging in their apartment that was from Tessa's dorm room.

    Jace and Magdalena are really fun with their grandkids. I'm sure none of us would mind seeing Maia pop out a couple of kids from them. ;) Jace would like three specifically - he wants 6 grandkids!

    Thanks for reading!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Maisie, sorry that I missed your comment this morning!

    I know, it seems like such a kid thing to laugh at! I'm sure I would have found it funny when I was that little. I can just imagine the giggling.

    Losing Tessa is probably the saddest thing that's ever happened in Sullivan! It's nice for Magdalena and Jace that they've managed to find happiness with other things, while still missing their daughter.

    Oh, do you mean the one with Gordon and Georgina? That's the Bigfoot hug! I just discovered it with allmenus the other night and I'm planning on going nuts with it - it's really adorable.

    Thanks for reading!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Magdalena and Jace really are sweet... I read other players saying that they don't like/play elders, or they kill them off as fast as they can, and I don't understand it - they can do everything adults can except get pregnant, and they're often my favourite sims because they've been with me so long.

    I love the way they still remember Tessa, but they've moved on, too - redecorating the room in the same colours captured that beautifully, because I imagine that any sooner, redecorating it at all would have been unimaginable. Now, it can change, but still honour her memory.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Blackcat, I have to say that I used to be one of those players! I used to try to tell myself they could do everything adults could do apart from getting knocked up but I still found myself getting bored playing/writing about them. Jace and Magdalena were probably the Sims who turned that around for me.

    I don't think they could have touched Tessa's room until now. They went in there a lot just to take it all in, in the months immediately following Tessa's death. It's all a little more manageable now, four years on.

    Thanks for reading!

    ReplyDelete
  16. I love old people in love. I like that they're turning to each other as they heal emotionally.

    ReplyDelete
  17. HCove, as awful as it was, Tessa's death probably brought Jace and Magdalena closer together. They're a really lovely couple.

    Thanks for reading!

    ReplyDelete
  18. First things first, thanks for that little tip on how to get sims to look down! Duh! So simple but I never thought of it, either!

    Jace looked so cute dancing with Gabriel. He and Magdalena are just so adorable. Too funny that he kept pinching her butt at the aquarium (and that the kids thought it was funny-so realistic!). It's good that they're still so in love and playful like that after all these sim-years :). And that's a great pic of Gordon playing with Georgina. A great father-daughter moment (and cool! Big Foot hug! *makes mental note).

    That was really sweet reading how they're dealing with the loss of Tessa still. I really like how they left her room intact and even spruced it up a bit. I'm glad they're able to finally have some normalcy and enjoy life a little bit. Tessa would want them to be happy and enjoy their time together.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Danielle, good, I hope you can find some use for that tip! I used it again last night. :)

    Jace and Magdalena are really cute together, and with their grandkids. I think they would have loved to have a whole brood of them, like Maria and Filippo did.

    And yes, very true. Tessa would be happy if she knew her family and friends were happy. She was quite a positive person.

    Thanks for reading!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Aww, I hope they're able to retire soon. They've both worked pretty hard and they deserve a break.

    Magdalena's prodding at Maia to procreate is just too funny. Maia has always seemed to be a go-with-the-flow, drift-along kinda person. It wouldn't surprise me at all if kids really never crossed her mind.

    The bit about Tessa's room was really sweet. Maybe they'll let the grandkids sleep in it if they stay overnight.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Rachel, I really hope they can retire eventually as well. Most of my other Sims have managed it by their age but Jace and Magdalena honestly can't afford it at the moment.

    For Maia, the idea of kids is probably just something she assumes will happen one day (probably because she knows she's living in my hood!) but never really gave much thought to any details beyond that. But she has her parents who are quite keen for more grandkids and Ethan has Family secondary, so he's going to want a kid too. So we'll see when they get around to that. It'll make her parents happy, that's for sure.

    I can see Annabel and Georgina staying overnight in Tessa's room. I may have to write that in one day and steal your idea. ;)

    Thanks for reading!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Jace and Magdalena are cute, and the fact that the kids were laughing, oh man, that's just one of those things I miss about actually playing the game. It makes some sense that the kids would think Jace it being funny pinching her behind. They don't understand the connotations. And Jace, being so in love with his wife and enjoying family, would keep doing it, lol.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Lunar, exactly! Jace is being a little bit naughty doing that kind of thing in public but the kids don't know that. It'll be a few more years before it clicks. Then they'll probably be mortified. I have a picture of Nick with his grandparents, in the same situation. He didn't find it at all funny, as you can see!

    Thanks for reading!

    ReplyDelete