Wednesday 28 December 2011

Over it over again

Round 32: August 2036 (Winter)

last update/next update

Jace Novak is 79 and Magdalena is 72.
(Gordon is 40, Lia is 39, Maia is 34, Ethan is 30, Annabel and Georgina are both 12, Gabriel is 9, Willow is 10 months old)

Narrated by Jace Novak

I already worked much longer than I ever wanted to, so I finally made the decision to retire. I’m still in good health and seeing I’m getting close to 80 now, I want to enjoy some more leisure time.

I thought we’d seen the last of the snow, so I spent my first few days of retirement tending my garden.

That was all for naught, unfortunately. We got some more heavy snow, so I think I’ll just wait until spring before trying to grow anything else.

Instead, I’ve been spending my days making flower arrangements. It’s one of my favourite things to do.

When I retired, I also turned over the ownership of Rosa Lucida to Maia but I don’t think I’ll ever giving up flower arranging.

Magdalena was a bit worried about me completely retiring, mainly from a financial standpoint. She’s not miserly, but she likes to have more of a nest egg than she thought we’d have if I stopped working.

But we own our house outright and our daughters have been out of the house for many years now (over 20 years, in Lia’s case!); we really don’t have much in the way of expenses. My pension easily covers our needs, with plenty left over as well.

Now Magdalena is talking about retiring herself. She’s going to wait until the new owner gets settled in and then give her notice. It will be very nice when she finally does. It gets a little lonely here during the day.

Watching Willow helps that a lot. I really enjoy looking after her.

Maia is still on maternity leave but now that she’s learning the business, she needs someone to care for Willow a couple of days a week. I am more than happy to take on that role!

It’s been a long time since I’ve been around such a young baby though and it’s sometimes quite the relief when Willow dozes off.

I often feel like a nap myself by that time, so I move Willow to her pram and lie down for a little while.

Maia has really adapted to motherhood, which makes me so happy. Willow sleeps through the night now, which makes things that little bit easier.

Willow’s first birthday is in a couple of months and at that point, Maia will need to go back to work at the events planning firm, which may throw things out of whack again.

Maia isn’t too worried; she says she will hire a manager to take care of the business side of things, so she won’t need to be on site as much.

I guess she could. The store is profitable enough that she could easily afford to. I was too stubborn to hire a manager and I ended up working myself pretty hard!

Even knowing that Maia will probably be very busy soon enough, I still can’t help but wonder when Maia and Ethan will give us another grandchild.

I've hinted but they're not saying much about that topic. They’ve both said they’re considering a second but they haven’t said anything about when.

Magdalena is keen for another grandchild too but she’s being far more restrained about it this time and not nagging Maia about it.

She’s even scolded me for being pushy, which is pretty rich coming from her. She was just as bad as I was before Willow was born!

It’s our poor granddaughter who has to deal with Magdalena’s nosiness these days. Annabel mostly humours Magdalena when she asks her for the millionth time whether she’s got a boyfriend yet.

Poor Georgina though. Magdalena asked her the same question last time we saw the girls and she looked so embarrassed.

I don’t think Magdalena will ask her again. She’s nosy but not cruel.

Gordon has told us the girls won't be allowed to date for a few years yet anyway.

They’re really going to have to keep an eye on Annabel! I can imagine her becoming completely boy-crazy within a year or so, if she’s not already.

I’m relieved Gordon and Lia are being strict with that sort of thing. I don't know if I can take the idea of the twins dating.

I could never stand the thought of some boy trying to get his hands on any of my daughters either. Sometimes I'm still amazed that I ever got over my beef with Gordon.

Gordon and I get along very well these days and have done for years now.

It turns out our parenting philosophies aren’t so different. Now that Annabel and Georgina are in high school, he understands exactly how I felt when he and Lia were dating.

I'm sure it's a relief that Gordon and Lia have a few more years before having to deal with Gabriel dating.

Gabriel is still such a kid that it’s hard to imagine him dating or taking an interest in girls. I guess it’s a product of being the youngest.

Last time they visited, Lia and Gordon told us that come April, Gabriel would no longer be the baby of the family; Lia is 10 weeks pregnant!

I’m sure I don’t have to say how delighted Magdalena and I were to hear that news! This will be our fifth grandchild.

Gordon is thrilled. He always saw himself with four kids and was a little disappointed when Lia wanted to stop at three.

Lia is excited too but she has some reservations as well. The baby wasn’t exactly planned, so it’s really taken her by surprise.

Pregnancy was tough on Lia the first two times and she’s afraid it’s only going to be much harder on her now, almost 10 years since her last baby.

She’s also been reading all sorts of things online about the increased risk of miscarriage for women of “advanced maternal age”. At 39, Lia now falls into that category, so she’s worrying herself sick about it.

There’s not really any telling Lia once she starts fretting about something but Magdalena tries. Lia is very healthy and cautious and has no previous history of miscarriage, so all she can do is hope for a very boring nine months.

Notes:
  • Title is from Over It Over Again by She & Him.
  • I had meant for Jace to retire like a hundred times before now and this round, he rolled the want to retire. It was like he was saying "Please! I'm almost 80 and you have me working as a fashion photographer and running a florist!" So I had to give in, lol!
  • I still haven't transferred the business to Maia officially, because I was too lazy to go through all that tedium of moving Maia in with her parents, and then back in with Ethan last night. But it will be hers soon.
  • Lia and Gordon conceived this baby in their car outside the Claudette, after their date in their update this round. BC failure! It didn't fit in to the update, seeing Georgina wouldn't have known, so I wrote it in here instead. I'm kind of hoping for a girl who looks like Lia this time.
  • No baby yet for Ethan and Maia but he has rolled a want for one. I didn't think he'd hold out until Willow's first birthday. That Family secondary is strong!

18 comments:

  1. For many reasons, this is completely wonderful. I love Jace. Every single thing he sees now is a different color than it would have been when he was younger, but he's still the same man, and I think that's such a difficult thing for some writers to understand.

    He gets along great with Gordon. Who did what? Conceived the baby in the car? I love it!

    Poor Lia being advanced aged LOL! I hope for the best for her.

    and again, thank you for this one.

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  2. Wow, another baby for those two, I wouldn't have expected it, but I am happy to see another little one-or ones, considering that the chance of twins also increases with advanced maternal age.

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  3. S.B., oh, thank you! I really like Jace too. Jace has made it a little easier on me, because he's always been quite clear about what he likes and wants! He is definitely still the same man he's always been, a little softened with old age.

    Ah, Gordon. Gordon cheated on Lia about a year after they started dating, in college. They broke up and got back together about four years later. Jace was the last to forgive him! And I know...baby makin' in the car! Not what I would expect from two relatively reserved Sims like Gordon and Lia, lol!

    I have my fingers crossed for Lia. Four kids was not in her plan, she doesn't enjoy pregnancy and she's a natural worry-wart, so this is kind of stressful for her!

    Thanks for reading!

    Apple Valley, oh no, not twins! One set is enough! True though, the chances do go up the older the mother is. I keep meaning to look up actual rates of twins, to see if I can rig up some kind of rate of multiple births for my older mums. I've been too lazy is all. ;)

    Thanks for reading!

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  4. Heh, I think he deserves to retire too. :) (I always feel bad for letting sims work until they're almost dead.)

    Yay, another child. How exciting! I like how proud they are to be grandparents.

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  5. Yay for retirement, and yay for baby Liadon on the way (Lia and Gordon for short :P). Celebration all around!

    Whewww Jace pushing 80, yes Carla if i was Jace I would have begged for retirement too, LMAO!

    That picture of little Willow falling asleep in the swing, priceless.

    Great update!

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  6. simnovoris, I always feel bad too. And it seems kind of unrealistic to me too, because not many people do that in real life. I had financial concerns for Jace and Magdalena though - they didn't have much cash at all until recently.

    Jace has been gunning for another grandkid since Willow was born! Which is not really all that long but it's been a constant want for him for years. He gets one and he rolls the want to get another almost immediately. They're like my cutest grandparents.

    Thanks for reading!

    Nicky, Liadon! LOL. I actually posted a pic of Charlie and Camilla on Tumblr the other day and my fingers wanted to call them Charmilla!

    Poor Jace...and he's not even a Fortune Sim, or a type who would actually truly enjoy working for that long! The poor guy can relax now.

    Maia and Ethan have a swing for Willow and their place too and she sleeps in it more often than not. They put her in there and she dozes right off! I'm sure that could be very handy occasionally. ;)

    Thanks for reading!

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  7. This was such a sweet update, nice to see Jace retired and enjoying Willow. I can't believe Lia is having another one!! Crazy! I always thought they were complete, and obviously so did they. I wonder when Maia will have another, now they two are like Victoria and Claudia with kids born around the same time, even if Maia doesn't get pregnant too soon, just with Willow. Which I can't wait to see Willow at her first birthday!

    Fun seeing the twins, I'm curious how gracious Gordon will be with any boys they bring home. I have a feeling that anyone that pulls a "Gordon" won't be so easily forgiven. Hopefully no boys do that to the girls though.

    I'm glad Magdalena and jace are financially okay with the retirement, they always seemed to struggle more than others with finances. Glad he didn't have to work forever!

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  8. Maisie, I know, right? I never, ever imagined they'd have a fourth! This is as surprising to me as Ione's fifth, which I still can't believe sometimes, lol! I'm doing a little first birthday party for Willow today, so you'll get to see that soonish. ;)

    I think Gordon might be a force to be reckoned with for his girls. He knows even nice boys can do the wrong thing and not treat their girlfriends so well, so he's probably going to be more distrustful than most dads!

    After working so hard for so long, I'm happy for Jace to be done with it all and will be happy for Magdalena to finish up too. They've definitely struggled more than my other families. My other Sims seem to go through one period of financial difficulty and then be okay from then on but it just never ended for these guys. Until now, thankfully!

    Thanks for reading!

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  9. Can I say how happy I am! I wanted Lia and Gordon to have another baby, and now they are! Yay! And you know, I didn't even realize that was is 39 until you pointed that out. At least she's getting this final one out of the way!

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  10. Riverdale, I'm glad you're happy! I figured there would be a few of you because I remember some were a little disappointed when Lia decided she was done after Gabriel.

    Lia is approaching middle age so fast though! Can't believe it!

    Thanks for reading!

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  11. I've finally gotten around to commenting here! I hate being this much behind!

    Anyway; I don't know how you do it, but your empynesters always seem to have such filled lives! I have my Lillig family coming up, and I'm really dreading playing them!
    There is always so much going on in your sims' lifes, and I love it :)

    I have to say I wasn't expecting Lia and Gordon to have anohter one, but it's kind of great! I always wanted them to have another one and was a little bit sad Lia didn't want any more!
    As usual I can't wait to meet this new baby :)

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  12. Tanja, it's just that time of year for a lot of people, so don't worry about it!

    Well, you're a long time reader, so you know I used to skip over my empty nesters or move them in with their kids! When I decide to start updating on them like I do with my other families, Jace and Magdalena were my first and it was the same round that Tessa died. So that right there was a pretty obvious thing I had to write about with these two. Then I just got into the habit, I guess. I still find I struggle more with empty nesters than anyone else. I have Anna and Emil to play next and I'm already thinking what to do with them!

    No one was expecting Lia and Gordon to have another baby, least of all me! But when I went in to bump Lia up to the second trimester, she rolled the want to have a baby so she's getting excited about it, which makes me smile. I expect Gordon will probably roll it too - it's expected with two Family Sims that eventually they'll come around to being excited about a surprise baby!

    Thanks for reading!

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  13. Okay, this was a while ago but I have an easy way to transfer lots. You can set the deed to sale, call in the sim you want to purchase the lot. And have them buy it. If the sim is playable, the business gets transferred. Deeds can have the customized price too, so you can price them to a dollar to make the process.

    I used to do this with the old city center. My sim made so much money, lol.

    Also, aww! Another baby! How frightening and exciting.

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  14. Lunar, you know I considered that a long time ago but I forgot about the customised pricing, so I ended up not doing it. But this will work perfectly when I have to transfer the diner from Kirstin to Camilla (which I still haven't done in game!), so thank you!

    Until you commented, I'd momentarily forgotten that Lia was pregnant! Which is a bit sad, because I last commented on it less than a week ago. But yes, scary and exciting!

    Thanks for reading!

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  15. Wow! I certainly wasn't expecting Lia to get pregnant again! This will be fun, though, and like you I hope the baby looks more like her. :)

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    1. Heh, I don't think anyone was, least of all me! I have zero chance of getting a blonde but we'll see about one who at least resembles Lia, lol! The other three certainly don't (much).

      Thanks for reading!

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  16. Another baby!!! I haven't seen him coming! But neither did his parents, so I don't feel too stupid! ;)
    I hope everything will be fine for them. Do you have something that makes the pregnancies more difficult and risky when a Sim is 39 than when she's 24?

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    1. No, Lia getting pregnant was probably one of the biggest surprises of the round for me! Especially at 39.

      You know, I don't know about that. Miscarriages are a part of Inteenimater but I'm not sure if it's programmed into it that there is a greater risk as the Sim gets older. I know it causes lower fertility with age though (as does ACR - I use both hacks). I should look into that, because now you have me curious!

      Thanks for reading!

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