Thursday 31 July 2014

File me away

Round 35: November 2041 (Spring)

Daniel Halmi is 34, Susannah Carmody is 31 and Zac Whitney is 7. 
(Kimberly is 70, Nick is 38 and Sarah is 36 )

Narrated by Susannah Carmody

I was very nervous about having Daniel move in with us but we've settled right in and things have gone so smoothly. 


I was worried things would start to go south like they did with Sam, when we moved in together, but if anything, our relationship is even stronger than it was before.

I guess being with the right person really makes all the difference. 

I love that we get to see each other every morning and every night now. For the first time in ages, I’m not working nights, so our schedules align perfectly.

Daniel and I talk about the future all the time. We love our little unit but we have definite plans to buy our own place one day. That will probably be sooner now that we’re living together than when I was on my own with Zac.

Not just because of having two incomes contributing to everything now but because Daniel is a bit of a financial wiz. He has a fairly successful and stable stock portfolio. My finances weren’t terrible before but they’re much better now. 

We also both want to have kids together. I definitely want more children and Daniel would like to be a dad too, so we’re on the same page there.

We’d both like a big family, ideally, but I’m already in my 30s and not planning on a baby any time soon, so that might not happen. We’d be happy with one, I think. 

When it does happen for us, Daniel is going to be such a great dad. He loves kids and he’s so awesome with Zac already.

A lot of guys would have shied away when they found out I had a kid but Daniel clicked with Zac from the minute I introduced them.

Since Daniel moved in, Zac has been all about outer space. It’s kind of a pet topic for Daniel and Zac has been absorbing it all. 

Sam takes him to the museum in Exeter a fair bit on their weekends together and he loves telling Daniel about all the exhibits he saw when he gets back home.

Daniel also owns an incredibly expensive telescope that he brought with him when he moved in. The evenings are pretty warm at the moment, so they have almost nightly astronomy lessons in our backyard.

I’m on the outs with all of that, seeing I find it difficult to fake an interest in astronomy or science in general. I’m just happy they have something they can bond over. I like to use that time to experiment in the kitchen anyway. 

Sometimes I come up with a new idea for work but most often, I’m just playing around and trying things out.

Daniel and Zac don’t mind eating the results though. They’re very enthusiastic taste testers.

One thing I really appreciate about Daniel is how keen he has been to make a good impression with my family. 

Zac is the most important one, of course, but he has really made an effort with Mum, Sarah, Nick and my nephews and niece as well. 

That was a big sticking point with Sam - he never clicked with Mum and neither one of them was willing to meet the other halfway - so it’s a relief that I don’t have to stress about that any more.

Mum really adores Daniel. I don’t think the guy can do any wrong in her eyes. All my family loves him but Mum is especially taken with him. 

I wasn’t expecting it to be long before Mum started asking about when we’d be getting married and predictably, she’s been inquiring about that for several months now!

Thank goodness Daniel isn’t easily flustered, because I can imagine he would have run screaming by now. 

Getting engaged isn’t something we’ve really put a date on yet but we feel like we’re headed that way. When we do talk about it, it’s “when”, rather than “if”. It’s in the pipeline.

When it does happen for us, I’m glad we won’t have to worry about Zac’s reaction. I did wonder how he would take to Sam and I having new partners but it doesn’t seem to bother him at all.

I guess he was so young when we split up that he doesn’t remember us being together anyway. This is just the way things have always been, as far as he’s concerned. 

Sam and Julia recently announced their engagement and I don’t think anyone was happier about it than Zac. It’s not for another year yet but Zac talks about it like it’s happening next week. 

I took him with me to Audrey and Jack’s wedding last year, where he spent most of the time playing with Jack’s nieces and nephews, so I think he’s hoping for more of the same. 

Daniel and I will be there but I’m not expecting there to be any other kids. I hope he’s not disappointed if he has to hang out with us all day. 

Hopefully seeing his dad getting married will be exciting enough and he won’t be bored out of his little skull!

Notes:
  • Title is from File Me Away by Badly Drawn Boy.
  • I think I have mentioned before but Kimberly is pretty obsessed with Susannah getting engaged and married and with getting another grandchild. I haven't even got two of those locked - they're just constantly there. So Susannah and Daniel are going to have to indulge her one day!
  • Daniel is a playable but I haven't done a profile for him yet as I write this, so if there's no link up there when you read this, that's why. :) I'm a bit behind on admin type stuff, like sim profiles and household profiles right now!

16 comments:

  1. This was another very good morning coffee read for me, thank you for providing it :-)
    I love the style of the house. Every time I see your pictures, I wonder whether I should start using CC in my game again. Speaking of my game - I am taking a break from Sims2 right now, enjoying the travel adventures in Sims3 for a bit. Sims3 will, however, never become my favourite game; Sims2 will probably forever hold that place!

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    1. Glad you enjoyed it! Well, you could probably guess what my advice would be about CC but I have never gone more than a couple of hours with no CC at all. I just can't do it and I don't enjoy it!

      I don't think I knew you had TS3. I played it quite a lot when I was at the beginning of my rebuild of Sullivan but it's holding less and less interest for me these days. I'll load up and then just can't get into it. :\ I hope you've been enjoying it though.

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  2. Wow, I am so glad for Susannah, being so happy and even better off financially. Zac is so cute and it is cool that he's so excited about his dad's wedding, talking about it constantly. It is neat he had such a good experience at the last wedding with his cousins. Kimberley sounds like my Jackson, but it didn't fulfill his wants when Ethan was born even though he met him. I am thinking it was because I extracted those sims and used the SIM blender to make them family. Anyway, I am glad Kimberley did not scare off Daniel.

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    1. Yeah, I am happy for Susannah too. When she moved in with Sam and they broke up so soon after, it wasn't something I was expecting or was planning for, so I didn't really know where things would go. It's worked out though, so it was nice.

      Zac's cousins weren't at Audrey and Jack's wedding - it was just Charlie's and Josie's kids there, who he would know from school. I might let Zac invite a friend to the wedding, just to keep him entertained. It won't be very big, so it won't be too taxing for anyone.

      Ah, I've been using InSim to set family ties most of the time - maybe that works better than SimBlender? I've definitely had "Get a Grandchild" wants fulfilled since the rebuild.

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  3. Susannah always looks graceful, like a really tall ballerina. She's very pretty, and I'm so glad that she's doing well, Daniel seems like the perfect step Dad for Zac, I really liked their photos of bonding especially with the telescope... that thing is a boss! What science kid wouldn't flip out for it?! I wonder how many they will end up having, also curious about how many on Sam's side as well. Zac has been an only child for so long, and he could end up with a ton of siblings between the two of them (that's how it went for me!).

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    1. Susannah is one of my few female sims who I have set to taller than 1.0, so she's a little stretched out. I like the graceful look it gives her though.

      Daniel is a pretty great stepdad. He's a bit more involved than Julia is as a stepmother - she's a little more distant. I'm not sure how many kids they'll have! Nick ended up with five siblings in total, after being an only child for his whole childhood. Abigail must have been about Susannah's age when she had Mitchell, actually, so maybe Susannah will have more kids than I think she will. Both Susannah and Daniel's IFS is 5, so they're in agreement on this!

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  4. I enjoyed reading this update! Susannah and Daniel fit together so well. I especially love how he is with Zac. Not all step parents find it that easy to help raise someone else's child but Daniel doesn't seem to have that problem. I'm looking forward to seeing where life takes this couple!

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    1. I'm glad you enjoyed it! I'm really thrilled with how things have worked with Susannah and Daniel so far, considering I mostly moved him in out of convenience! I was making scads of families in CAS when I started my rebuild and it was just easier to create him along with Susannah and Zac, rather than make him separately and move him onto a lot as a playable NPC (necessitating decorating another house).

      Daniel has really taken to Zac. I hadn't played with them yet, so he wasn't friends with Zac when I loaded the lot but they started chatting right away and it didn't take them long. Daniel also had the want to be friends with Sarah and Kimberly, so he definitely wants to make an impression with Susannah's family. It's very sweet.

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  5. I really like Daniel and Susannah together, they make a nice couple. It's so nice that Daniel and Zac share their love for science! It's not always easy being a step parent, but Daniel really does well, and the common interest is a nice plus here.
    It's good to see Daniel getting along with Susannah's family. I can imagine it being a pain if your family doesn't like your partner or your partner never wanting to go to familygetherings because he can't stand you family. I'm glad that isn't the case for Susannah and Daniel.
    I'm looking forward to seeing Susannah and Daniel's future and their plans. It's good they are already talking about weddings and kids. Even though a big family might not be for them, but I can definatly see them with at least one or 2 kids, and I think Zac would love being a big brother.

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    1. Yeah, Daniel and Susannah get along really well and there definitely seems to be a spark between them, so all is good so far. Daniel's got a great relationship with Zac - the shared interest in science helps - so that's most important to Susannah.

      Susannah has been through worrying about her partner meshing with her family before, when she was with Sam, so it's a relief for her to not worry about it with Daniel. Sam liked everyone else - he could just never get along with Kimberly! But you know, that's Susannah's mother, so it was a problem.

      I'm hoping a wedding and a baby are imminent for Daniel and Susannah but both will wait until next round. :)

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  6. Well now aren't they just one little happy family. A lovely light hearted update. :)

    Zac is just way too cute and I've decided Daniel is too. lol He seems a bit too good to be true but it's nice if he is because I think Susannah deserves it especially after what she went through with Sam. Her and Daniel are such a sweet couple. I look forward to reading Daniel's profile too when you finally get it done.

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    1. Susannah will just have to hope Daniel is as wonderful as he appears. :) She is an optimist though, so things have to get pretty bad before she gives up on them. But so far, Daniel has been great to her and Zac and to the rest of her family.

      And thanks for the kick up the bum RE: Daniel's profile! I have all the info written out, just haven't been bothered to put it online. I'm so lazy lately!

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  7. Don't feel bad about being behind on the administrative stuff. I'm leaps and bounds behind you with no excuses such as rebuilding an entire hood from scratch to fall back on! ;)

    So glad that things with Daniel are going well! He genuinely seems like a good guy and I hope that continues to be true. I'd love to see Susannah have a nuclear family unit... and perhaps another little one. There are women having babies at forty, after all!

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    1. Ha, thanks, Mao! I do want to get ahead of this admin stuff though. I've got two kind of non-updates to prepare after I finish up this December update with Josie and Troy, so maybe I'll take the opportunity to do some more profiles. Daniel's is up now, at least!

      That's really all Susannah wants, I think - a little nuclear family - and it just hasn't worked out for her so far. Daniel is her best chance yet though, so I'm going to hope things continue to go well. And true about the babies after 40! Araminta is my all-time record holder for oldest mum (I think she was 51 or 52?), so there's a precedent for older mothers in Sullivan. Susannah has plenty of time before she gets to that point though. :)

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  8. Okay, let's see if I can comment now.

    They are all just so adorable I want to pinch their cheeks! I love that Kimberly is trying to get them married off as soon as possible. I want another kid for Susannah even more than she does, but I'd understand if it didn't happen. And I'm so glad that Sam and Susannah get along so well after their split. Many others aren't so lucky.

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    1. Heh, Kimberly has the same priorities as just about everyone reading this blog, I think. :) It's kind of funny though, because she was never that gung ho about having her own babies (despite being a Family sim) but she's just insane for grandkids and getting her kids married off, lol!

      Sam and Susannah both put Zac first, which is only going to be good for him in the long run. He's a lucky boy. :)

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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