Dinner and a show

With a full and warmed belly, Samantha walked bravely into city hall, swinging the door open wide as she stepped inside trying to look around but without appearing completely lost.

And right away she jumped back, "Sorry!"

A woman stood behind the door, stopped with her hands in front of her as she'd thrown them up to stop the door from hitting her. Samantha expected a woman almost hit by a door to be a bit more upset than a simple apology could sooth, but this woman only smiled at her.

"Well, aren't we in a hurry?"


"Sorry, I'm new here, and someone suggested I should check in here first."

At the word "new," the woman perked up suddenly. "New? We don't get a lot of visitors. Welcome to town. I'm Samantha."

The other Samantha reached out her hand, and Samantha took it. "Really? I'm Samantha also."


For a moment it was like looking in a warped mirror. The other Samantha was nothing like her. She was clearly more of a dressy kind of girl, and her dark hair which was only in a bun still somehow had the appearance of being done in a salon.

Once again, Samantha caught the other Samantha looking down at her shirt. Her boobs were not so amazing that people were prone to staring at them, so she was sure it was the shirt.


"It's the shirt, isn't it?"

"Yeah, what is the deal with that? I know people get gag gifts, but they don't usually wear them."

"It was free."

The other Samantha looked at her with a smile, "Oh you are in need of some serious help. Come on. I know where we can go. It's close."




The other Samantha hadn't even asked if she had a place to live. The first thing she'd done was drag her off to a clothing shop. Hanging around a group of women tossing around their troubles was one thing, but these women clearly had plans for her before she even had plans for herself.


"How about this one?"

Bonnie seriously eyed the shirt as if it were a piece of art not just a shirt she were picking up so she could take off her free shirt that everyone seemed a little too interested in. "Hmm. Okay. But try it on."

As she was in the fitting room, plans were being made already. Before she'd even stepped out of the fitting room, she had agreed to go to dinner after she'd made a stop and gotten herself a place to stay and finally changed her shirt.





The house from the outside was small and plain. There was no perfect lawn and no landscaping, just the old newspaper on the porch which Bonnie kicked aside casually with a smile as she stepped out to greet them.

"Welcome to our house," Bonnie said with a smile.


There was a charm to the place that Samantha couldn't exactly pick out. It was small and within walking distance of Bonnie's clothing shop so that they didn't even seem to have a car.

"Thank you for inviting us, Bonnie," The other Samantha (who had agreed to be called "Sam" to avoid confusion) said politely.

"No problem, I figure that I should probably get on your good side now since I worry we might see a lot of each other next year."

Sam smiled at Bonnie, "I'll pretend that I have no clue what's coming or what you meant by that. I'd like to pretend to enjoy my summer."

They laughed easily, it was slightly infectious. Even if Samantha was disoriented by how quickly things seemed to be moving. Had she really only arrived in town this morning?

A man poked his head out of the door, "Okay, food ordered."


Bonnie, who had been sheepishly ready to tell them something hopped on him, wrapping her arms around him and kissing his cheek as he gently patted her head. "Oh god, thank you. I didn't want to have to tell them about the burnt pizza."

A pang attacked Samantha suddenly. Bonnie's move was casual, natural. The two fit together perfectly like puzzle pieces and it made Samantha's heart hurt. She glanced away and caught Sam's expression almost a mirror of her own. She was stone faced, almost stoic in an attempt to not react and she had also turned away to meet Samantha's gaze.


Sam, seeing her expression mirrored on Samantha's face, stepped forward with a smile at Samantha. "Well, while we're waiting for food, how about that haircut?"

Bonnie jumped at that idea too quickly. She was something like those little dogs who pushed their larger owners around, only in her case she was all bite and very little bark. Samantha could already tell she was not the sort of person one could say no to easily. Adorable, boisterous and demanding, normally a combination that probably drew people to her, something about it pushed at Samantha and almost made her wish she hadn't agreed to come over for dinner.

Bonnie dragged her out to the backyard where an old and weather beaten barber shop chair sat exposed to the elements.

"Now, I can tell you're a little nervous. Maybe a little dubious about my talents, so we'll start you off easy. I'll just do a little restyling and if you don't like it, well no harm done."

Sam stood near by, a hand on her chin and a smirk across her face. Even though Samantha was sure she was pretty much the one to blame for this, she found herself drawn to this woman. This evil woman who had her spending money on clothes before she had a place to stay and drew her into some oddly girly adventure.

This was something they'd laugh about later, she was sure. Hopefully over drinks.


"See? Not bad, huh?"

Samantha was pleasantly surprised.

Bonnie's husband, Orlando, stuck his head out the back door (not very far, Samantha noticed- she wondered if it was all the estrogen or if it was only his wife with the cutting shears). "Dinner's here."

Inside they went. Sam threw Samantha one last smirk as if she could read Samantha's mind and did fully intend on laughing about this later. Hopefully over drinks.

************

Bonnie and the pizza:


OMG, she looked so disappointed. And Ama is so not surprised. "We're having people over? And you cooked?"

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This is for the Southern Hemisphere

Ama watched her father inhaling deeply the "fresh sea air" with more than a bit of annoyance.

Back home it was snowing. Snowing! Snowmen, snow angels, and well thrown snowballs right at Hobart's head.

But Ama's parents had decided that a trip down south would be a better idea. It would be something different, and a learning experience she could share at school.

A family vacation-- like for real. Trapped with her parents away from friends with nothing to do but play in the sand without snow. She could've played in sand at home. You know, once she scraped the snow out of the way and stuff.

Really, Ama knew what this was about. Her father had lost his job. He'd been one of two policemen (Hobart's father being the other), and he'd lost his job. Luckily Ama's mom ran the only clothing shop in town, so they were doing great, but her father was at a loss for what to do.

He'd gone more than once to see the mayor, but it couldn't have gone well.


He still didn't have his job back.

Ugh. This was going to be a long week!




"Ama, what're you doing?"

"I'm going to hunt for bugs."

"Don't tell me you brought your entire bug collection."

"What? It's not like it's large. And they're all in the case anyway."

Ama's mom rolled her eyes. "Oh Ama. What if the glass breaks? You'll have dried bug parts everywhere."

Not that the case would break. Ama was not a kid. She was almost a high schooler. She knew how to take care of stuff. But that might actually be kinda awesome to see dried bug parts and stuff-- like when she found old flies on the window sills that had been dried to dust by the sun.

Her mother got her working on finding cool shells in the sand to turn into jewelry while she stood around being embarrassing with her father.



Really embarrassing.


Oh my god, so embarrassing!


Her parents acted like two kids who'd never grown up. Seriously. How old were they?



When her parents were being less embarrassing, they were taking in the local sights and eating local food.

Ama was dying; it was so hot! It was like summer.

"So, Mom, Dad, does this mean that for Summer we'll go to the mountains?"

Both her parents laughed. They thought she was kidding!


When they weren't taking in the sights, Ama was being accosted by locals who were intent on showing her how to do this weird little move.

"Uh, yeah, like this?" Ama halfheartedly imitated her.

"No dude, put your heart into it!" The woman's smile widened. "You have to mean it!"

"Uh, okay. Maybe next time."

"I'll keep an eye out for you!"



The plus side was that Ama totally had her own hotel room all to herself. This small taste of freedom was a lot like being a high schooler, she thought. It was kinda a cool and kinda scary. She could feel responsibility hanging around the corner.

Hobart was already in high school. He'd told her all about it. It didn't sound too bad, but Hobart said it was a lot of work and some of the kids were a little scary. Course, he was really the only freshman, so everyone was older than him. And his fathers had seen fit to give him more responsibility on the farm.

It kinda sounded sucky now that she thought about it. Responsibility and work and reading big books. Ama would be perfectly happy painting forever and having ice cream for dinner.

She giggled at the sound of the official sounding knock on the door. The bellhop from downstairs presented her with a large bowl of ice cream sunday and asked if she'd like anything else. She smiled and handed him the money her mother gave her for his tip.


Luckily, Ama's mother laughed when she saw what was for dinner. It was sort of the plus side of having young parents who acted like big kids. They were gnerally game so long as, you know, no one was hurt and she didn't do anything dangerous.

Maybe her parents weren't so weird or embarrassing. Her mom did make some awesome sand castles that had all the kids on the beach envious.


And maybe it was a little gross that the possibility for a little sister or brother was always present. But well, it could be worse. Ama's own cousin Melanie had been taken recently by her own mother. Ama had heard her father telling her mother that one night when she wasn't supposed to be listening. (Okay, maybe she wasn't ever supposed to listen.)

But her parents really seemed to love each other, and they did love her very much.

**************************

Uhm, whoa! I am quite rusty. Or maybe it's just that I am SO not good at writing stuff on the fly. I really need to take my time with it, but what the hell. *throws caution to the wind has it spray back in her face*

I think I am finally ready to END winter! I only have a few more events, so I need to focus and finish so I'll be ready for The Samantha Bradshaw Project!

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Random Ama

We managed to move over the course of two days-- but not whole days, only at night because everyone had to work. It was more like one day really. So the place is a MESS. But I got my bookcase put together and now I have my computer set up again all nice and cozy. Hmm... how long can I really go without being able to see the stove? Do I really need to see the stove?

Well, I figured sort of as a celebration I'd post some pics I haven't really been able to turn into a story. And I figured I'd feature Ama because she is the daughter of one of my favorite sims and so she's becoming one of my favorites as well. (If I still have this blog when she's a teen, I can see trouble with a capital "A.")





Right now she's just a cutie with attitude though. She likes to get up in the morning and greet her ants in her little ant farm,

She has this thing with bugs. Bug hunting is her favorite thing to do. This is Ama hunting bugs in front of her mother's work. (Remember when she got grounded that one time?)

Ama likes talking about bugs when company is over for dinner. In this case, their guest did not react the way Ama expected-- much to her great disappointment.


My favorite pics of Ama came from the time she caught some fireflies outside so she could sleep by their mysterious green light.

I love this one. Her eyes look like they're shining brightly as she watches the jar of bugs.


Ama gets it from her mother. Bonnie Centowski is the sort of sim who will be your best friend in a matter of minutes. If you aren't careful, she'll have you outside in the makeover chair she keeps out back giving you a new hair style that you won't be able to say no to.

Like Orlando's guest the other day. Orlando Centowski shows up with this odd sim wearing too much make up and one of those slutty outfits from the Night Life expansion, and Bonnie welcomes the woman into her home as if she were a friend of the family! She gives her a free make over, and even offers her a discount if she comes by the clothing store and lets Bonnie pick out a new outfit for her. (Hmm, ok, maybe Bonnie did notice the outfit.)


Bonnie was something of a troubled teen, and that happened to be when Orlando came into her life. He was rather plain compared to her colorfulness. I think Bonnie at first only used him as an excuse to get out of the house and simply never bothered to delve any deeper into the boy.

Until college that is. Bonnie had never been one of those girls to dream of getting married in a white dress in a church with 500 people she hardly knew watching. She certainly was not the type of girl who would want some extravagant or public proposal.

But Orlando showed he understood her better than anyone else. He invested his own money to help her start her own clothing shop. It nearly brought her to tears to think someone could believe in her like that. And then, while she stood there fighting back tears, he proposed with a knowing smile on his face.

And they've lived happily ever after since.

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OMG Cuteness!

Well, I was playing Bonnie Centowski's clothing shop (Ama's mom) and I had a surprise visitor!

Hobart came in alone looking at the quilt Melanie had been eying in this post.



It was set to a high price since it is a custom object, but Bonnie is quite observant. She also happened to notice Hobart hanging around Melanie (who happens to be Bonnie's niece) who had been looking at the same object.

Bonnie's too smart to ask him directly, but when she asked if it was for him, he only sniffed, "I'm too old for that stuff. It's a gift."

"Well, in that case..." and so she knocked it down to a cheaper price.

Hobart used all of his saved allowance to pay for it. He's a very responsible kid, and he'd been saving up for something good. I suppose this is worth it.



***********
Snarkysims noted in her latest entry that sometimes the AI seems to have some odd timing. Or maybe it's perfect timing.

Behind Hobart in line? That'd be Demi Love, Melanie's mother! I wonder what she would think if she knew that the boy in line in front of her was buying something for her young daughter? Yikes, I wonder what Water will think when his oldest baby girl brings home a gift from a boy!

And here I had been planning on sending Melanie's father to buy it for her! I was thinking it might be important later on, but SHEESH Hobart.

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Friday Evening

Jason and Ama sat in the police station waiting for their parents to pick them up. Jason was happy that he got to sit behind the desk, though he wasn't allowed to touch anything. Ama and Hobart sat on the other side of the desk. Ama had her arms crossed, and she had pulled her chair so that it would face away from Hobart.





Hobart said, "Ama, c'mon. You can't get mad at me. My dads asked after your parents called. You know I can't lie to my dads."

Ama refused to look at his pleading eyes. "Hmph!"

Jason sat quietly. When his mother saw him, he knew he would be in big trouble.

They hadn't thought that their mothers might contact each other! Ms. Smith, Jason's mom, had called Ama's mom at her work. It was all over after that. Ama's father was the local police chief.



"Oh, my baby!" The high pitched sound of Jason's mother's voice brought him back from his thoughts to the present. She kissed him all over his face so that he had to wipe his sleeve across his entire face to get off the feeling of her lips (and any lipstick).



Ama's mother and father were there right after Jason's mother. From what Jason could see over his mother's shoulder, Ama's mom was very unhappy. Jason heard her saying, "Young lady, you are SO grounded! From here on out, after school you are going with me to work. Not another word!"

Ama's father could be heard saying to Hobart and his dad, "Thanks, man. I don't know what we'd do if we didn't have responsible Hobart here."

Jason's mother was still fussing over him in a way that upset him. "Mom, I am NOT a baby."

"You are my baby. And you'll always be my baby. Now come along. Let's get you home. Do you want some hot cocoa? You must be cold."

Jason followed dejectedly after his mother. Ama's fierce gaze caught his eye, just for a second, before her mother started lecturing her again. For that second, Jason didn't feel like a little kid. He had been a brave adventurer ready to catch a murderer. He'd certainly been braver than Hobart, who had told on them to the grown ups. Jason liked the thought that he was braver than the older and taller Hobart. At least Hobart couldn't call him a baby now.

**********

In a few days:



Alberta has a friend who tells her a few things about Gabe.

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Buying a wedding dress

Present playing day (because Uncertainty is supposed to take place a few years ago):


One of the shops that I have is simply called Bonnie's. It's a clothing shop that sells off the rack and home made items.

The plus side of this is that I can send sims shopping, such as this mysterious sim which I sent out for a wedding gown.



First I had her try it on to make sure that it looked good.

Then she spoke with Bonnie to tell her exactly what she wanted. Bonnie looks so excited, doesn't she?

So Bonnie set to work in the back room making the gown while her customers waited in line. (They weren't happy with the wait, but then I have a hack that won't allow them to throw their bags down.)



When Bonnie was finished, she wrapped the dress and gave it to her customer.




The customer then went into the back room, where Monique's computer is set up for such occasions, and she transfered $5,000 to Bonnie.


And the transaction was done!


Bonnie runs the shop well when I have sims visit. She suggestive sells, chats with customers, rings up quickly, and, the cutest thing to me, she sews when she isn't doing anything else.

I found out during this transaction that she's making pot holders like mad! (I watched her complete another one last night when I sent some other sims for a visit.)



This is the face she made when I told her to scrap her pot holder so that she could start right away on the dress. Gah, she's so adorable!

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Apartment life-- Better than the real thing

These events take place before Tierra De Legado.

Bonnie and Orlando cleaning up the old place

Bonnie and Orland were the first of my sims to move into a proper apartment. The home I had them living in was more meant to be a store front than an actual home. So I converted it into a community lot. (This of course means that other sims will be able to stop by and buy custom creations from Bonnie's shop when I'm not playing Bonnie.


The apartment is much more spacious than the old place. Everyone has their own rooms, and they now have a proper kitchen and dining room. The place is about $2,000 a week (which is every Monday.) Perhaps this will change my rotation time line since rent might be forgotten on Mondays.
The apartment building has this lovely playground attached. Bonnie and Orlando are on the first floor to be close to the playground.


This is Amália's new bedroom.




Amália also had a birthday in the new home.

Amália as a toddler. It's hard to tell because her hair is brown, and her mother's is black, but she looks just like her mother.

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