Thursday 18 April 2013

Flake

Round 15: May 2024


Cal and Elissa Cooper are 62.


Narrated by Cal Cooper.

I got the flu this spring and it felt like I would never get better. Secretly I kind of enjoy lounging all day in my pajamas but I know Elissa was getting worried that I'd need to go to the hospital. Luckily we have a doctor in the family and Grace assured me - and Elissa - that it was just a regular flu and that I just needed to rest.

We moved into a new apartment just a couple of weeks ago so we had a little house warming party on Mother's Day since everyone was coming over anyway.

The new apartment is a little bit bigger than our previous one but it's on three storeys so it was pretty crowded downstairs once everyone had arrived. But we all get along so it wasn't a big problem.

I promised Elissa that I would handle the barbecue but she insisted on making the preparations. I know I'm not a very good cook so I appreciated the effort. Our kitchen is so tiny that there's really just room for one cook at a time.

We are a very large family and rarely get together so it was great to have everyone over. We talk on the phone quite often with all our kids but it was still nice to be able to talk face to face.

Josh and Lilly have been together for years but we still don't know her very well because he rarely brings her over. I got the impression that things have gotten a bit more serious between them because they were talking about the possibility of renting a house on campus next year. I hope they're not moving too fast because they're still so young.

All our grandkids adore Elissa so much. She always has time to listen to their problems and give good advice. Ross is only 13 but he already know that he wants a career in the Intelligence when he grows up. He's considering either joining the army or the police force after graduating from high school. Elissa suggested that he could enter the military ROTC program and go to college and get into Intelligence after serving the required time in the army. That way he would get an education and a serving time in the army would definitely help him land a career in the Intelligence.

It feels weird that after years of struggling we're now financially doing really well. It all comes down to Elissa's books. So far she's published two and even though they haven't been best sellers they've sold quite decently. But the main thing is that Stella Harris bought the rights for both books and the first movie was a massive success. The sequel will be published later this year and Elissa hopes to finish her third book soon after.

She could definitely quit her job when it comes to money but she says she enjoys it too much to quit. I on the other hand worry every time she gets called to work and I see her walking out the door in her full gear. She says she never takes any excessive risks in her job but being the SWAT Team Leader isn't exactly a walk through the park. I can't help but worry.

Our work schedules are very different so we only get to see each other in the mornings and late in the evenings. Sitting down for breakfast together is always the highlight of my day.

Notes:
  • Title reference: Flake by Jack Johnson.
  • Cal came home with the flu but he wasn't as sick as I made it seem in the text. He got better after resting for a day.
  • I've talked about moving some of my sims into new apartments or houses so Cal and Elissa now live in a different apartment. I got the building from Apple Valley and I love it. The other two apartments are occupied by the Whitfields and the Linds.
  • Stella paid Elissa €100,000 for the book rights so now Cal and Elissa are one of the richest households in Wellington after struggling for years. I had already kind of forgot about it until I made Elissa start a new novel.

10 comments:

  1. Oh, that dreaded flu! I hate it when my Sims keep getting colds and flus, and as soon as they are over one, the next one is there. Sometimes, when I make them eat Comfort Soup, they are cured - and a second after the message that says they are well again, the next message comes up, informing me that so-and-so has a cold or a flu (or even both at the same time). Very annoying!
    Does making them rest on the bed really help? I've never tried that method.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My sims don't get colds and flus very often and I never let them interact with other sims while they're sick just to avoid an epidemic. I have an unwritten rule that my sims aren't allowed to eat the soup for the first 24 hours. I might even bump it up to 48 hours.

      Anything that gets the sim off their feet helps so I make my sims relax on the bed, take baths and basically anything that keeps their comfort level high.

      Thanks for reading. :)

      Delete
  2. Oh wow! Elissa and Cal are lucky, lucky sims! I love the idea of combining the writing with the show business career by having authors sell movie rights. I'll have to keep that in mind for Xavier or Sylvia.

    I think Cal and Elissa must be living in the same flat I have Lila, Elspeth and Sophie living in (or will, once they've living somewhere other than the family bin!). It's very spacious for three people but I can imagine it's not quite the ideal venue for a family get-together!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Elissa and Cal are really lucky but I think they deserve the break. Things were pretty hard for them for years. I have no idea how much authors are paid for movie rights so I just thought €100,000 would be a good sum.

      I really like the building but with a huge family like this it really got crowded when I teleported everyone in! I got surprisingly little stomping of feet though because everyone just sort of scattered outside and upstairs after a while.

      Thanks for reading. :)

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  3. They are such a cute couple, I'm glad he got better quickly. I too usually just have everyone in the family eat comfort soup for three simdays straight, lol.

    I'm surprised you attempted a large family gathering at that apartment, it's definitely on the smaller side, lol. Thank goodness for the backyard and I like how you added exposed brick, I am itching to do that now.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. I'm really glad he got better. I'm always so nervous when my sims get sick.

      Well, it was Mother's Day so they all had to come over, lol. It went really well but maybe next time I won't let my sims have such a huge party though. I really like the building, the apartments have great layouts and they're perfect for the families I chose to live there.

      Thanks for reading. :)

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  4. I love seeing big family gatherings, and playing them - even if they are hard to host in smaller homes. Glad the sims themselves were sensible about it, for once.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Big family gatherings are one of my favourite things to read about and to play as well. Some of these relatives didn't even know each other so it was nice to see them bond.

      Sometimes sims can do something right. I was very impressed when no-one got stuck, lol.

      Thanks for reading. :)

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  5. Cute family and I love the fact that you have family gatherings. That is something that I need to do more often in my game.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Family gatherings are fun to play and also give your sims the chance to get to know their relatives better. They're definitely worth trying.

      Thanks for reading. :)

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