one day, when the world is rapt to attention...

August 2082 (mini-update)

One day, when the world is rapt to attention, Madison Riley delivers a public address. "Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I want to thank you all for joining me today. Earlier this morning, world leaders made public the presence of a possible threat to our planet. We've known about this situation for some time now, and we've been monitoring it closely. I'd like to talk to you about how this will affect us on a local level."

Well, Madison has almost everyone's attention this morning. Clarice is supposed to be blogging the live news coverage, but instead she sees Blake in the back row and flashes him a flirty smile. She doesn't normally get to see her husband while they're working, so right now, she feels a little bit like a giddy teenager, passing by her high school sweetheart in the hallways.

Pay attention, Clarice, this is going to be important.

round 2082!

Welcome to round 2082! This round will last from August 2082 to July 2084.

prequel stories #4: the cutest couples never meant to be

Okay, so some of these ended up being much sadder than I'd anticipated. I should have anticipated it. It's about heartbreak, duh! ;) But some of them are happy as well, since you're not only seeing the endings, but in some cases, the beginnings of the relationships that were meant to work out.

These stories are a little more current, a lot of them taking place just before I started blogging about the neighborhood, and even overlapping with some of the early stories.

The cutest couples never meant to be, countdown style...

prequel stories #3: young loves

So I've gotten kind of carried away with these, lol! Looking back through two years worth of pictures, and I've found so many stories I'd like to tell! Most of those stories will have to wait for another time, but I've come up with three more, for now, and then I promise we'll start round 2082! And I want to start round 2082, because I have some good stuff planned, but I figure we'll get these out of the way first.

The "young loves" theme ended up being really huge, so I've broken it in half, loosely divided between the couples who worked out, and the couples who didn't. So part 2 will be prequel story #4: the cutest couples never meant to be. Which in turn inspired prequel story #5: what ever happened to Samantha Bradshaw?

But first, prequel story #3: young loves :)

prequel stories #2: baby pictures

Taking a break from my break, lol! Is that lame? ;)

But really, I had a neat idea while peeking through some old pictures, so I thought I'd throw something together. I've got another prequel I'll post in a couple days, and then we'll start round 2082 on Sunday or Monday, so I suppose I'm kind of done with my break anyway.

These are baby pictures from some of the Sims that you guys never got to see as babies. I know Sim-babies look mostly alike, but it's fun to see some of their parents when they were young, and I have some toddler pics in here too :)

Summer's place, continued, part 2

July 2082 (part 2 of 2) - part one here.

*** optional soundtrack, "Not As We," by Alanis Morissette ***

He's been lounging around the house lately deep in thought. You'd think he might be giving up the gaming industry to become a philosopher or something. But he decides this morning, just as she's leaving for work, that he'll finally wake up and come bounding out to the garage to stop her and say, "Hey, Summer, wait up a sec'."

Summer's place, continued, part 1

July 2082 (part 1 of 2) - Micah Phoenix is 59, Sophie is 60, Hayden is 32, Summer is 17, Ryanne is 11. (Tyler Jackson is 18). Last update, November 2079.

*** notes: Just a warning, this first part is sad, but the second part made me bawl like the sappy dork that I am, so, if you're that way inclined, maybe don't read these in public ;) ***

*** optional soundtrack, "Not As We," by Alanis Morissette ***

The shop has been closed for almost three years. Summer hasn't even stepped foot inside except for once or twice in that time, and she finds herself surprised at how much it still smells like woodchips, and a little bit like dust. The shelves are still stocked with stuffed teddy bears, and a wooden toy firetruck remains on the front counter, right where her mother left it. She doesn't know what she thought would have happened to them in her absence.

And she doesn't know why she expected to magically find the light switches she was never able to find before, because she doesn't. Not at first. It's a lot to take in all at once, and she finds herself stalled here as the last evening light fades from the day. This front store room is a place stopped in time.

these kids

June 2082 - Jeremy Nova is 66, Alice is 60, Jeremiah Day is 25, Stephanie is 22. Last update, February 2080.

"He's barely any more than a stranger," Jeremy says, and he means his daughter's surprise husband. Stephanie called a couple months ago, to say she was pregnant, and that they needed to come back home for a while. They've met Jeremiah about a handful of times before the two of them ran off on spring break and eloped two years ago. But Alice wouldn't care if Stephanie was bringing home big foot, because she just wants to see her daughter again, and meet her soon-to-be very first real grandchild!

This wouldn't be the first time Stephanie didn't think things through. Moving back home with her army-deserting husband, and where did she think they would live? How would they work? Of course, the answer being that her parents would take her back home, and that who knows how they would contribute to the household. Who knows how Jeremy would explain to his brother-in-law, Captain of Police, Micah Phoenix, that they were hiding an army-deserter in their home?

Stephanie broke her poor mother's heart, you know. Alice prides herself on education, and Stephanie dropped out of college after just one year. And then she goes on spring break, gets married, and never comes back? But still, what do you do when she calls and asks to come back home, with her delinquent husband and soon-to-be baby, but say "welcome back?"

not my idea

June 2082 - Chad and Riley Hathe are 30, Liza is 13, Shaun is 4. (Phoenix McCullough is 42, Fiona is 14, Robbie is 11. Hayden Phoenix is 32.) Last update, February 2079.

*** Part gameplay notes on the Bluewater Animal Shelter ***

(quick note, just to set everybody straight, lol: these names get confusing, I would imagine - I have a Phoenix McCullough, friends with Hayden Phoenix, whose brother is Jackson Phoenix, and whose daughter is dating one of the Jackson boys, lol - half of those are Maxis names, so it couldn't be helped. I don't even know how I'm going to narrate this scene, but I'll try, lol ;) In the narration they'll be called by their first names, Chad, Hayden, and Phoenix, though Chad calls Phoenix "McCullough" in dialogue. Anyway...)

Chad is fully enjoying his work as the owner of this cozy little gaming club. The Gamer's Den is ranked 4 now, and he enjoys the company of his favorite regulars. Funds have been running low lately, which might be because his wife's animal shelter is housing SIX animals right now, and those dogs eat a lot!

Another hundred bucks will help, but unfortunately that means cleaning Hayden out. "I'm done, Hayden says. "You guys ran me dry."

"McCullough, aren't you broke too?" Chad says.

"Not that broke," he says.

lost and found

May 2082 - (2081/82 school year update)

*** note: there are a LOT of kids in these school updates, so remember to use the database and school enrollment page if you need it ***

"You can get pregnant! And you, and you, and you!" Jodie points to each one of them. Liza Hathe shivers, shakes her head and says under her breath, "Eeew!"

Given a recent surprise baby boom in Lake County, Jodie Larson has been asked to give a talk on birth control to the junior and senior high school students. Even though the trend is mostly happening with grown women who should know better, these are the next generation's grown women, so they figure maybe they'll educate before they get that far.

Jodie says, "Having a baby is kind of like a jail sentence, at any age. But having an oops baby when you're young is like death row! Your life is over, ladies!"

happy mother's day!

I know there are a lot of mommies who read this blog, so in honor of Mother's Day...

in the middle of your picture

May 2082 (prom) - Dallas Deppiesse is 17, Lucy Harris is 15. (Tyler and Beau Jackson are 18, April Hutchins is 18, Summer Phoenix is 17.)

*** notes: you'll probably want to have read Lucy's recent update first. Optional soundtrack, "All I Need," by Radiohead ***

She was just Lucy. She was just some funny little girl he met on the internet, even though they've gone to the same school since childhood. She dragged him out of his shell and became his first real friend. And then they became more than friends. They grew up together, they got older, and somehow he'd missed the point where she had morphed into something of a goddess.

LCU, a lesson in biology

LCU, spring semester, 2082 (last semester, fall 2081)

Keri just HAS to see this house, all the way out in the freaking suburbs! She's still not over it all, and says, "I can't believe you got married. You, got married! Not even a year ago, you didn't even want to live with him, so you married him?"

"He grew on me," Mariah says. "What can I say?"

Keri says, "And I can't believe you got yourself knocked up, haven't you ever heard of birth control???"

tethered

April 2082 - Toby and April Harris are 42, Lucy is 15, Sarah is 13, Sam is 10. (Dallas Deppiesse is 17.) Last update, September 2078.

Lucy is still not allowed to date Dallas Deppiesse, but it has proven to be a lost cause trying to keep them apart. So her parents reason that she is allowed to have friends, and indeed, a friend he is. A friend that she watches movies with, holds hands with, and kisses goodnight at the door. A friend who drives her home from work, invites her over to dinner with his family, and stays until ten almost every night to "study." And the touching, always touching, her fingertips graze his ankle, or his hand comes to rest on her knee, as if they might die if they weren't constantly tethered by some kind of vital but invisible life force.

And nobody wants to mention - you know silly kids and their fragile egos - but do they even realize that they've started to dress color-coordinated?

But both of their grades remain consistently excellent, so who can complain? Call it what you will.

this rustic life

March 2082 - Jeremiah Day is 25, Stephanie is 22. (via phone, Bella Bradshaw is 25). Welcome to Lakeside Heights, baby Skye. Last update, March 2080.

Stephanie is talking to her brother, long distance, while Jeremiah sets lunch out on the table. Lara had the baby - it was a girl, and they named her Skye. Stephanie can't even believe how much she's missed. She has four little nieces and nephews now, who aren't so little anymore. Liza is in junior high now, Shaun just started preschool, and Raine is starting preschool next year! Stephanie says, "The last time I saw Raine, she was still in diapers!" Oh, Patrick mentions, Raine still is in diapers, they've got to get that potty training done before the fall. Still potty training at three and a half! Sheesh! And they say girls potty train faster?

Stephanie says, "I can't wait to meet Skye!"

"Are you coming home then?" Patrick asks.

"Well, we kind of have to, I think. I'm kind of pregnant."

"Well, either you are or you're not," he says. "There's really no kind of about it."

"I am then," she says. "Yeah, I guess I am."