Winter 2012 - D'Sim

Shawn (47), Jane (32), Shane and Imogene (4)

Jane was very happy with her family and her life, especially now that the twins were growing out of the toddler stage and would be starting school soon.

She had a big celebration planned for them with some of her dearest friends in attendance

and also her mother-in-law (mostly at Shawn's invitation).

Jane was mortified when Em made a pass at one of her married friends.  His wife seemed pretty put off by that move as well.  Luckily Sophie wasn't angry, just confused and annoyed.  It helped that Christopher politely turned down her advances by explaining that he was happily married.

Jane insisted that Shawn have a talk with his mother and suggest that it might be time for her to go home.  He tried to broach the subject, but Em seemed settled on staying near by for awhile.

Of course, she wasn't going to live with them.  She would stay at her own place and give them their space and privacy when they needed it.  After all she was a busy sim herself, she had her own work to do.  But she knew they could still use help with the twins, someone to babysit when they had to work weekends or after school hours.

And she was more than happy to help out and build a good relationship with her grandchildren.

Jane was kind of glad to have another adult around so she could get some work down from home while Shawn was at work.  She missed her days as a gossip reporter for STAR magazine and wanted to get back into entertainment reporting.  She'd recently becomed very intrigued by Mr. Winston Crabtree and wanted to see what dirt she could come up with about him and his clients.  She had grilled Em about it, but she knew very little.  He'd seemed to have moved his focus to the music industry while she had turned more to writing than producing.

When Winston didn't respond to her many e-mails, she tried calling him on the phone.  First his office number, then his home number.

That didn't go over well.

She decided to take a break and focus on her family for awhile, especially since the holidays were coming up.  Shane must have known Santa was coming, because he was being extra good and cleaning up after himself without being asked.

Jane was eager for the gift giving season, so she could shower her loved ones with special presents

and special moments together.

ROS: Jane D'Sim becomes obsessed with/ stalks Winston Crabtree. (I didn't do a whole lot with this one, since Jane is so busy with her family and everytime she and Winston seemed to interact, it didn't go well.  I think his role as an agent and hers as a former gossip magazine reporter worked well for this interaction.  Since she's happily married, I knew it wouldn't be a romantic interest.)

Winter 2012 - Crabtree

Winston (35)

Winston was always glad when he had the chance to see Lara.  Sometimes it was difficult to get together between their busy schedules.

But the extra effort in scheduling was worth it.

With her toned body from her athletic training, Winston thought she was about as hot as they came.

However, at times, he found something about their conversation lacking.  Somehow they struggled to have the same connection outside of the bedroom.

When she left for the evening, he was left home alone and wondering.

Work kept him busy.  After an evening jog he ran into producer and writer Em DeLong who had some interesting entertainment proposals for him.  They would require interhood travel. He was intrigued, but ultimately not interested.  He was feeling settled in New Eden and wanted to stay here for now.

He was constantly getting calls from aspiring stars.  More often than not they were waiters who had heard about him through Keith, the waiter who had served him while he was on vacation a few simyears ago, and were hoping he could help their careers as well.

It amazed him how many sims thought they could make it big in the music industry when they had no significant musical talent or musical training.

They probably had their eyes on the glamour and the fame and the awards.  He told the young hopeful to send over some headshots and a video audition. Film or modeling might be a better way to get his start.

When he wasn't busy with his work as a talent agent, he was busy with his role in the hood council, managing the hood's finances.  The new administration building had opened.  It was still under renovation, but at least the officers had a place to meet.

They discussed the pressing issues of the hood.  Landscaping and beautification.  James was especially interested in making sure the building he was designing were properly landscaped to complete their aesthetic appeal.

Winston expressed his concerns with book-keeping for the hood's finances and keeping better track of taxes and loan repayments.

Jane was concerned about the arts, wanting more cultural and artistic opportunities in the schools and the community at large.

Hope remained mostly quiet during the meeting and quickly left once the formal meeting was dismissed.  Her eyes did light up when Jane suggested new activities for the school children.

After the meeting Jane cornered Winston with a barage of questions and ideas, regarding possible concerts or plays in the hood and possible star appearances.  Remembering her mostly for her days as a STAR reporter, he couldn't help feeling like he was being interviewed for a gossip article and excused himself from the conversation as soon as possible.

Fall 2012 - University

Felicity London (2nd year grad student), Davis Vanderburg and Genesis Sartor (1st year grad students), Derek Todd and Maia Hayes (sophomores), Geneva Rossi, Owen Rossi, and Violet Cormier (freshmen)

The new school year brought a new crop of freshmen to campus as the Rossi twins and Violet Cormier left high school behind to begin their college careers.

Violet was very flattered that the older college boys seemed to take notice of her right away.  However she tried to play it cool.  She did still have a boyfriend who was still finishing up high school.

She was excited to be sharing a room with her BFF Geneva.  Both girls had a feeling this was going to be a great year.

Even with new faces around campus, Felicity found it impossible to totally avoid Davis, and he was grateful for that.

When he managed to catch her in the hallway, he kept the conversation light and friendly and congratulated her on how far she'd come with her studies.

He left the conversation feeling better about things between them.  Maybe they had a change to get their relationship back on track after all.

Even though she was busy with studying for classes and meeting new people, Violet still made time to call Bryan and tell him all about college life and the new friends she was making.

She hated to admit that she found his high school talk kind of boring.  She'd moved past those things and was starting to wonder if she was moving past him as well.

Especially when there were so many cute guys around all the time.  She was even beginning to see Owen in a new light.  He'd gotten better looking as he'd gotten older.

Even though they flirted a little, Owen's heart was still with Charlotte.  He parents had kept a tight rein on her since they found out she was pregnant and he'd only seen her once since she'd moved back to Eden, but he thought about her a lot and tried to call her when he could.

Lunch in the cafeteria was awkward when Felicity found herself alone with Maia and they still happened to be wearing matching pajamas.  She made a mental note to herself to buy another pair and tried to be cordial, even though she couldn't help thinking about how much she'd like to see Maia's ghost.

Things got even more awkward when Davis walked in.  Felicity didn't like the way he looked at Maia.

But when he walked over flashing that dazzling smile of his . . .

She knew she was still smitten with him.

She wondered if she'd been too hard on him.  After all it did seem to be only Maia that was initiating things between them.

Maybe it was time to kiss and make up.

Things hadn't been going well for Violet.  She'd come down with food poisoning and was advised to rest as much as possible.  She spent a lot of time in the lounge watching television, wishing she could get back to focusing on her studies.

One night as she was getting ready for bed, she collapsed.

Luckily Geneva heard her fall and woke up in time to call and ambulance.  Violet was taken to the hospital and treated for extreme dehydration.  She missed a few weeks of class, but luckily was able to come back to school in time for finals, so she could complete the semester.  It was a major scare and Geneva was shaken by the incident for days afterwards.

Meanwhile, Owen was treated to a special surprise.  Charlotte had talked her parents into allowing her to travel back to New Eden for a college visit.  Although she knew she would be lucky to finish high school after having a baby and wasn't sure she was really interested in going to college, she knew her parents,  her mother especially, were hoping she'd be able to further her education.  She just wanted a chance to see Owen and her old friends again.

"So what is it like being a mother?" Geneva asked.
"It's a lot of hard work . . . it is so much work," Charlotte emphasized. "I kind of feel bad though that I'm probably going to miss out on living the college life like you and Owen are."

"It's fun living in the dorms, but honestly, I think I'm ready to move out and see world.  I'm ready to start my own life."
"Do you think you'll drop out?  What are you planning to do if you aren't in school."
"I'm not sure," Geneva thought.  "But there world out there seems to big and exciting to waste my time sitting in class all day.  Maybe I'll give it another semester and then decide."

Charlotte was excited to be on campus for the dorm's big end of semester party.             

Hoping to find a little romance, Geneva got brave and decided to make a move.

Derek, however, wasn't interested.  He seemed to only have eyes for Genesis.

It took her a little while to get the hint that they just wanted to be alone and that she might need to look somewhere else for romance.

(Darn "realistic" sickness mod strikes again.  And this time the Grim Reaper blocked the bed, so Geneva couldn't get up and help her friend.  I had to exit without saving because I didn't wanted Violet to die yet.  She's too interesting to me.  I'm not sure what I'm going to do about some of my students.  They have no interest in studying or going to class.  Yet, the show up for the final and pass the semester anyway.  I'm not sure all of them are going to still be in college after next semester if they keep it up.)