Farewell Oasis Valley

Hello Followers,

 

As some of you might already know (from twitter and N99) I have decided to no longer play the Oasis Valley Neighborhood.  For awhile now I have wanted to start over but my attachment to my sims prevented me from doing that.  The two main reason for leaving Oasis Valley behind are 1) new computer 2) poor preparation.

1) The computer that houses Oasis Valley is one a computer that is over 7 years old (might be closer to 10 years old).  It still runs Window XP and takes forever to load just the basic windows programs.  My “new” computer is only about 3 years old and I use it for everything.  I was getting tired of switching back and forth just for the sims.

2) By poor preparation I am referring to Oasis Valley.  Oasis Valley originally started out as a Prosperity Hood and morph as I began to play and encounter other play styles for different simmers.  All together it made Oasis Valley very disjointed and things (like ages) were just out of wack.  I am sure that I could have fixed some of these things but with working the night shift and a wacky sleep schedule I just did not have the motivation.

 

I am not leaving The Sims Community.  I have decided to start over with a more “complete” and hopefully make it what I imagined Oasis Valley to be.

The new blog is conwayislesims.wordpress.com It’s currently empty but please follow it.  I plan to start updating with progress reports in the next couple of days.

Thanks for Everything,

Monique

Frustration

Season: Spring
In this post: Randy London, Peggy Crabtree, Jeremy London, Sharon Crabtree-Carr, Louise Sims, Jennifer Crabtree, Ryan Crabtree-Carr

Narrator: Peggy Crabtree

My mother always said that getting an education would make things easier. Sometimes I get a strong desire to march up to her front door, waltz right in without knocking “Mom, you were wrong.”

I wouldn’t do that of course. No one ever tells my mother, Jennifer Crabtree, that she is wrong. Ever. It would be a waste of time and oxygen because she would never believe it. The fact that we cannot afford a car or a sitter to watch Jeremy while I make the trek over to her house also hinders me from carrying out my plans.

No, instead, I glaze out the window while burping Jeremy thinking about the satisfaction I would get from telling my mother that she is wrong, while simultaneously trying not to envy my neighbors and their lack of student loans.

Things would have been easier if Randy hadn’t gotten demoted. I know deep down he is sad about it but his ability to remain calm about the demotion makes me want to scream.

When I questioned him about the demotion, he “I haven’t been working my hardest. I’ve been slacking. In intelligence there is no room for laziness. Someone is always ready to take your place.”

I had to hold myself back from slamming my book into his face.

There aren’t too many people that I can talk to with about this. Sharon motto in life lately seems to be “everything will fall into place”. I know she will listen to my problems but her carefree attitude is to relaxed for my taste. I need someone who will offer me opinions other than “Do worry so much”, “When one door closes another one opens”.

Ruth on the other hand would be great but she has a nanny and doesn’t have to change diapers if she doesn’t want to. Ruth only works because she wants to keep the business in the family. No way would she understand what its like to only be able to afford to furnish half of the house. I don’t really feel comfortable about explaining my financial hardship to someone who hasn’t been their before, even if she is my sister.

It would just make me feel worse to complain to her, even thought it is not her fault.

My mother would be no help either. I could just hear her nag “You should have married someone with more than just ambition maybe a full bank account or better yet, a trust fund.”

No, I keep my mouth shut and pretend everything is better than good when she comes over.

The only person that knows how I feel is Louise Sims and only because her husband manged to blow their entire life savings on “investments.” I almost chocked to death when she told me he blow $50.000.

Sometimes, I wounder if I could go back would I change anything. Maybe instead of “shacking up” with a boy with dreams and empty pockets, I should of listened to my mother and married a boy with a trust fund that could afford hire a maid to wash the windows for me.

While a maid and a nanny sounds nice, I can’t picture life without Randy or our little Jeremy.

I doubt that some trust fund baby would dance on the front porch after dinner.

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• I try and make my sims pay for college which is not turning out as well as I had hoped.  Some sims like Randy and Peggy can barely afford to pay their bills and their college loan (just like in RL)
• Randy and Peggy have a two story house but because they are so poor can only afford to buy enough to furnish the first floor.  Hopefully by the time Jeremy is a child they have enough money to move into the second floor and for him to have his own room.

Like A Child

Season: Spring
In this post: Amanda “Mindy” Schmidt, Sharon Crabtree, Mark Schmidt

Mindy felt silly, like a child, standing in the mirror practicing faces. She was no longer a little girl barely tall enough to reach her father’s belt buckle. She was now a teenager and if her friends could see her now the would tease her until the end of time.

Sighing, she tried again. Making her eyes as wide as possible, furrowing her brows and trying to make her smile appear nervous.

“Mindy! Breakfast is ready.” Sharon’s shout from the kitchen interrupted her posing.

Mindy stuck out her tongue at her reflection in the mirror. She acknowledge the fact that no matter how pathetic she managed to lock she was still in trouble. If the mail had not been so reliable and her report card had gotten lost maybe she would have been off the hook. But the chance the school would have not informed her family of her bad grades were probably slim to none.

Breakfast was a silent ordeal, meals had been since Thursday night when her mother had checked the mail. Mindy tried to keep her mind from wondering what kind of punishment was going to be dealt out to her.

Silence was never good. Right?

“Tyson and I are going to take the dogs to the vet.” Sharon’s announcement broke into her musing.

Mindy waited for the other shoe to drop.

“Your dad will stop by later to discuss your grades with you.”

Shit.

Mindy waited for her father’s arrival. The time seemed to move at a snails pace. So slowly, that she changed the batteries of her wall clock to hopefully speed it up. Only to realize the clock was fine, the batteries didn’t need to be changed.

She groaned out loud and sank to her bed. Silently, praying that this wasn’t going to be as bad as the knots in her stomach indicated.

“Amanda” Mark shouted from the front yard.

She didn’t hear any anger in his voice. Her body automatically did what it normally would do when her father announced his presence.

“Daddy!” Mindy could help keep the excitement from coming out in her voice. It didn’t matter to her why he was there or that she saw him at least twice a week or talked to him almost every night. Seeing him always excited her. Like when she was a child.

“Mindy.” Mark responded before pulling her into a hug.

It start off simple with a “Really, Amanda? D’s” and a disbelieving look on his face.

There was no screaming or shouting. No threat of eternal grounding. Just a stern lecture on the importance of education laced with a hint of disappointment.

Which was enough to make her wish that he had spanked her. She wanted to cry, to blame someone else for her failings but really it was her own fault.

“Your mother and I have talked about it. You’re going to summer school. We expect better from you from now on.”

“Really, honey. We know that you can do better.”

His response had been more positive than negative but why did she feel even worse than before?

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• I love the fact that even teenage sims run out to great parents when they appear on the lot.  It is such a cute interaction.  I even have several adult sims that do it when their parents stop by, the biggest culprit is Dominique Keyes when her mom Victoria Hale comes over from a visit.
• Amanda’s grades sucks.  Before I started playing Oasis Valley, my sim kids always had good grades.  But now they only do their homework when they roll the want and since Mindy almost never rolls the want her homework is backed up.

Planning For The Future

Season: Spring
In this post: The Whole Schmidt Clan

“What do you think this family meeting is about?”

“Your guess is as good as mine, George.”  Mark answered.  He had been asking himself that all week.  Between running back and forth from Eaton to Oasis Valley to move Lucy’s stuff his week had been exhausting.  Then came his mother’s cryptic call about a family meeting.

“We never have family meetings.”  George voiced his thoughts.  “You don’t think this about Kay being knocked up?”

“What?”  Mark questioned, lining up his shot.  “You’re joking, right?”

“No.  I’m serious.”  George watched as Mark hit the que ball sending the yellow ball slowly towards it target hole.

“Did you tell mom?”  Not knowing what else to say to his little brother.

“Nope.  Not yet.  I  was waiting for the right time.  What do you think about me dropping the baby bomb at the meeting?  Maybe during dessert?”

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Robert told her not to worry and Ella tried but as she chopped and diced preparing the food for the family meeting she couldn’t help but feel a little guilty. No matter how hard they tried or how many hours they put in, Just Desserts seemed bound to fail.

Oasis Valley just didn’t have enough people to support a speciality business like a dessert only shop. It seemed that Robert and Susan had finally came to that conclusion also with her even having to voice her opinion.

She listened to the excited chatter that drifted through the open windows as her brother-in-laws and their girlfriends arrived.

She could hear them ask the question she had asked several times before “What’s this meeting about?”

Robert always answered the same way.  “Let’s wait until the family meeting.”

Her stomach gave a nervous flip.  This couldn’t be good.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Susan was the last one to sit at the table.  Mentally noting the seating arrangement.  Her three sons opted to seat together, with Robert between George and Mark.  She and the other women, Ella, Kay and Lucy, sat on the other side.  Robert directly across from her.

She tried not to think about the empty chair and the fact that James and William should be seated at the table with them.  Or the fact that if William had been alive they would probably not be having a family meeting of this magnitude.

Instead, she tried to focus on the present.  Not the past and what should have been.  She tried to focus on the words coming out of Robert’s mouth as he update everyone on the family’s finances.

As Robert laid it all out on the table she could not help but think about how she had failed them all.  She doubted that Jennifer Crabtree would ever have this talk with her children.  Jennifer probably made sure that all their futures where financially secure.  Even if she had not agreed with their life choices.

As she listened to Robert tell his brothers that there was money left but not nearly enough.   that her baby, Just Dessert, was wasting away and that the house was eating up what little money there was left.  She could only sit there in silence like the rest of them.

She wanted to tell herself that if William had lived everything would have been different but that was a lie.  Neither one of them knew how to properly manage money.  When they had won the lotto the first thing they did was quit their jobs and brought a big house, followed by putting their children in private school.  Instead of investing, planning and saving.

Robert’s voice stopped, causing her to look up and throw him a reassuring smile.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Robert patiently waited while the others gathered their thoughts.  He knew there would be a lot of questions.  He would answer as best he could but most of it would depend on chance.

“What does that all mean?” Mark was the first to ask.

“Basically that there is a way to salvage things.”  He answered.

“After much research and talking to a few people.  I have come up with a plan.  The lotto money wasn’t invested properly at the start.  First thing is to put what is left to good use in a high interest bank account.  The interest from that alone should be enough to cover the upkeep of this house.”

He had spent hours, days and week on his plan.  Confident that it would work.  If he could get them to agree to it.

He continued. “Just Desserts, needs to be restructured.  I was thinking of making it speciality restaurant.  That way we could focus on one thing.  It would draw more people and we’d make more money by charging for servings.  Right now people, even tourist, are buying the pies and leaving.  Mom’s spending way to many hours baking to keep up with what little demand there is.”

Susan nodded her head in agreement.

“We probably won’t reap the rewards, but our children should.  When they are older.”

” So, little Georgie should be able to go to college?”

Georges question threw everyone off.  Until Kay gave a shocked gasp and scold him.  “This isn’t the time to make that announcement.”

Robert let the new permeate his brain.  His little brother was going to be a father.

He finally said.  “Hopefully at the very least.  Little Georgie will at least be able to put a down payment on a house.  All the child will have a trust fund and money will be added periodically.  You have the option to add to your kids funds, also.  The house and business will be included.  It’ll be passed down from Schmidt to Schmidt.  The residents will  be in charge of the trust funds.  Apparently, that how all the rich people do it.”

He waited for someone to object.  When no one did he pushed back his chair signalling the end of the meeting.

Everyone followed his lead, the women crowding around George and Kay excited about the prospect of a new baby.

Mark caught up with him in the kitchen.  “I’m so happy I’m not the oldest.”  He joked before pulling him into a hug.  “Do what you think is best.  I’m behind you 100 percent”

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• The Schmidts have not been to good about handling their money.  My initial plan was for Just Desserts to make the bulk of the income and for Susan and Robert to run it.  But I fell asleep on night playing the lot and lets just say things did not turn out well.  Just Desserts has yet to recover.
• I am really excited about George and Kaye having a baby.  George is the last of the Schmidt boys to have a child.  Since, George is a Pleasure sim and Kaye is Romance,  I don’t think they will be having a boat load of children.
• While the family was having the meeting Mindy was babysitting her little cousins.

The Next Move

Season: Spring
In this post: Mark Schmidt, Susan Schmidt, Amanda Schmidt, Lucy (?)

Mark sunk down as deep as he could into the hot bubbly bath.  He wasn’t normally a bubbles type of guy but he knew before even getting out of bed that he would need it. Lucy had said that bubble baths always help her relax, prepared her for the day.  Today would be difficult for him.

He sunk down further into the tub and rested his head against the back.

Mark  decided to walk over to Just desserts and start with the easiest person on his list, his mother.  The fresh spring air, the smell of the trees and blooming flowers reinforced the idea that moving back to Oasis Valley had been a great idea.  The congestion and noise in Eaton made it hard to just simply enjoy nature.

Walking into Just Desserts he found Susan, his mother, standing over the kitchen sink, head down and shoulders slumped.

“Hey, mom.” He said.

He could tell that he startled her when she jumped a little before turning around. “Mark, surprised to see you here.”

“Yeah.  Decided to stop by and see how things are.”

“Slow”

“I can tell.  You look like you could use a rest, let’s have a seat.”

They sat and talked about everything and anything.  The business, his job, the children.  Then she turned the conversation to his relationship with Lucy.

She was digging, politely asking him about the status of their relationship.

“Lucy is moving in.”  He stated simply.

“Ohhh… Moving in?”  Susan sounded slightly disappointed.

“Hoping for more?”

“Ummmm…”

“Not yet.  Moving in seems to be the next logical step.  After that…”  Mark throw up his hands and shrugged his shoulders.

“You take your time.  No hurries.”  She smiled and patted his hands.

They stood and he prepared to leave.

“See you at the dinner next week, Mom.”

Telling his mother had been the easy part.  He wondered if he should have left the bubble bath for later, closer to the dinner time.  Cooking wasn’t doing anything to calm, it was making him even more nervous about telling Mindy about Lucy moving in.  With all the things changing over at her mother house, he didn’t know how she would take him announcing that Lucy was moving in.

The smell of pork chops burning drew his attention back to task at hand.

The kitchen was way to small for the three of them to sit together.  He took his customary seat in the living room allowing Lucy and Mindy talked at the table.  He took the opportunity to listen to them.  They seemed to get along.  He was just hoping that the relationship that they had formed would be enough and that Mindy would not freak out when he delivered the news.

They were seated playing a heated game of SX3 when he blurted out “Lucy is moving in.”

Neither Lucy or Mindy stopped playing for a minute he thought he hadn’t spoken the word out loud.

“Okay.”  Mindy said simply.

That had been much easier than he had expected.

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• It seems that both Sharon and Mark decided it was time to move on with their lives and enter into serious relationships.  I feared that they would never find someone who they were compatible with but they did.