NOTES - Politics - Simday 20

I'm overwhelmed, as anyone would be after having to evacuate your longtime neighborhood and move into a shelter. I've had to make a few adjustments, but Lars Larsson and the Green Construction Co. have worked so hard to re-build The Hills back the way it was, and maybe even better. Thanks so much.

I'm just going to dive in. If anything is forgotten, please let me know.

Admin.-Owned (AO) Properties that we lost:

-SimCity Bank, City Hall, Simmington Hills Police Department, Simmington Power & Water, Technical Training Center, The Hill House, Willow Community Park, Willow Co. Public Library.

Sim-Owned Businesses that we lost:

-Aldi's Supermarket and Restaurant, Seth's Barbershop, SimCity Furniture, GameTime Sports Bar

Admin.-Owned (AO) Properties that have been re-named, replaced, and updated:

-SimCity Bank, City Hall, Willow Co. Jail, Willow Community Park, and Willow Co. Public Library.

Sim-Owned Businesses that have been re-built and updated:

-SimCity Furniture

A letter was sent out to each Sim-Owned Business owner, asking them if they wanted to re-build, or opt out of their businesses and receive a check for the Business Value of the lot. A lot of you said, "yes" to opting out of your businesses. Some of you are done, and some of you said you will re-group and re-build at a later time. As we make our rotations around the hood during this next period (5th), we will be dispersing those checks. This money does not come from the Administration but from SimCity Government.

Business Certificates (BC) and Employee Taxes:

All BCs will stay on file at SimCity Bank. Any business that re-opens will maintain their current BC and employee taxes, even those that change their name. As long as the following is adhered to:

-The business must be the same Type of Business that is recorded on your application.

-The same lot is used. (The BC is connected to the lot number it was previously built upon. For example, Aldi's Grocery & Restaurant was located at 201 E. Magnolia. Sergio Spencer would have to re-build the same type of business on this lot in order to keep his BC intact.)

Read more about Business Certificates on our Administrative Law page.

*You also must pay additional employee taxes if you hire more staff than what you originally applied for.*
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

AO Properties that we lost have been liquidated back into our Hood's Budget, and new AO Properties have been accounted for as a Hood expense, naturally.

As stated earlier in Simday's Paper, we have several new apartments and community lots. You will be seeing them in various ways throughout the site as time goes by. Some of you will be happy to hear that a lot of these new apartments don't have a 5 to 15-simday lease. You can live there for however long you like. Cedar Two Flats and Cedar Homes will remain on a 5 to 15-simday lease.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you haven't already noticed, the Budget page has been deleted. I have handed over those duties to our Business Advisor, Nick Michels. He will post the budget reports at the end of each period in his Business Advisor NOTES section. If anyone would like a more detailed report, you can always email me at simmingtonhills@yahoo.com (Reports are done in Excel.)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Civic Residential Lots:

We are currently handling these lots differently from before. Simmington Hills College Preparatory School (CPS) will be inhabited by a janitor, who has checked out with great references. This allows the Wise family to buy their first home and live outside the school. Maxine Wise is still the Principal and Teacher there. As I understand it, she will be hiring another teacher this semester to run the Secondary classes, while she remains the teacher for the Primary classes. She will post her Education Reports inside her periodic journal, as usual.

Same with the jail... Seth Guthrie has moved out to allow a new Resident Prison Cop to live inside the jail. His references checked out, too.

These Sims will not be bothered or prompted for journals...only the Sim who has responsibility for the Civic duties there, will report on these lots in their journals.

The Magnolia - Mayor's Mansion:

Thanks so much to the Hood Council for coming up with this idea. This beautiful mansion is solely for the esteemed Mayors of our town. And hopefully after me, there will be a long line of them.
It is not a permanent residence, therefore no property taxes are paid on it. The Administration has paid for this property and it is considered Admin.-Owned.

Spencer Farm:

We're so sorry that Sergio Spencer's farm was lost in the storm. However, Green Construction Co. built him another farmhouse and Sergio tells me that this one's better than the first! We wish him all the best, and look forward to the future Spencer Farms Fresh Market.
-------------------------------------------------------------

The "How We Livin'" Tours have been discontinued.
------------------------------------------------------------

The Home Ownership Page (*Edit: HO Page discontinued Fall 2007), and the SimYellow Pages will be updated with new pictures as we make rotations around the hood. However, a new residential map has been placed on the front page of the Home Ownership page.

We ask for your continued patience as we re-organize.

*all Home Ownership (HO) information is now included on Sims' Simologies under the SimYellow Pages.

-Sen. Sabien Cunningham, Sr., Spokes Sim

Cameron Masters - Simday 20

46 simyears old:

I'm torn between two loves again.



This time it has to do with my career...not Stacy and Trinity, like some of you were probably thinking. Gotcha!

I love being the webmaster of Simmington Hills' website, and archiving all the history that goes on here, but I also love being a Scientist. I hardly have the time to formulate theories and concoctions because my Archive Librarian job keeps me so busy.

Because of this, I've decided to write a book. What better way to combine my love of the two. The book will be a scientific study on the possibilites of ghosts. I've titled it, simply, "Are Ghosts Among Us?"

I've nearly completed it, but I have to do one final step: stay for awhile in Simhead Cemetery. I don't know how long yet. It depends on what I see. I just hope Stacy will go for it.



For now, I'm working hard and enjoying my family. That means my cats too. I'm in love with my cats. I'm the only one in the house that takes care of them. Stacy couldn't go near the litter because of her pregnancy. And yes, we got another one. His name is Patches. And let me tell you...he is one journal entry all by himself! This dude has so much personality, you have to see him in action to believe it.



He and Princess got along right away and started playing together.



You may remember Princess was born to Judge Sabien and Tomika's cats, Pepper and Snowflake...essentially making her the heir to the 1st cats of Simmington Hills. *smiles* bare with me, now...

See, this is Princess. She looks just like her father Snowflake.



In fact, Sabien brought the boys by one day to play with Tyisha, and brought Pepper and Snowflake too, so they could see how well Princess had grown.





So, the way I see it. We mate her with Patches, they have some beautiful kittens, and we continue her legacy on through the generations. It's pretty important stuff, since we're the ones starting this town. I may even register her breed, so it will really be official. *That reminds me, I need to get her a collar!*

-------------------------------------------

Sabien is my best friend. I don't know how the dude does it, but he never lets anyone shake him up. He recently got caught in the middle of a ruthless campaign to slander his name and his office. That new gossip magazine, THG, started it all. I wonder if we'll ever find out who's behind it? You can believe I'm digging into it.

Well, when he came over to drop the boys off, we always try to sneak in our old Sims State school cheer, when no one's looking.





'Isha-poo is so crazy about the boys, she loves hanging out with them. It's hard to tell which one she likes the most. I kid Sabien about being his relative one day. LOL! In all seriousness, though. I CAN WAIT. I want her to stay little for as long as possible.

I have to watch her though...One minute she's playing nice, and the next minute she's trying to play dirty.





Stacy had fixed us all some grape jello for a snack, and I tell you...Marchon had some very inquisitive thoughts on Politics. That boy might take his father's place one day. Very smart kid, that Marchon.



Rashid...hmmph. He still might need a little home training.



I know his parents have taught him not to go to other people's houses and jump on their beds. But, he's still a cool kid. He just has to learn how to act right, that's all.

Stacy Masters - Simday 20

38 simyears old:

My latest pregnancy was never ending. I don't know if it was from the stress of causing an uproar in the community when I mailed that letter to the Judge's office on Simday 16 causing a huge blow up in Simday's Paper. Judge C was practically hung out to dry about his response. I certainly didn't mean to fuel a slant campaign towards our future Mayor.

Well, I knew my baby was due around Simday 13, but that day came and went.

Dr. Dalton advised me that I was being too active, not gaining the necessary weight I needed to advance. In turn, the baby wasn't gaining the weight it needed either. Although it was healthy, we expected the baby would be small.

I needed to relax, but there was so much to do. I wanted to throw a birthday party for Tyisha. With Cameron at work all day, it was up to me to keep up with the household as best I could.



I tried to relax when he got home from work in the evenings, but so much was running through my mind. I needed to buy a table and chairs for the party, balloons, food...what was I going to prepare that was easy enough, but hearty enough to fill everyone's stomachs?



And, forget my little tomato garden outside. I would be surprised if they even turned out edible. My apple tree and tomatoes have pretty much gone rotten with neglect. Do you know that we got hit with ANOTHER $2,000 garden maintenance fine this period?! That's just money thrown away. Well, not thrown away, it does help the Administration...but, still. We're gonna have to do better. We don't have loads of money to give away.



Our beautiful daughter, Tyisha, deserved to have a birthday party to celebrate. She's our firstborn which makes her special, and she knows it. We have SO many pictures of this child displayed around the house.







It helps that my Yard Sale was semi-successful. The money we made from selling Cam's hideous 70's furniture, will help me throw this party.

I tried to think of a present that Tyisha would appreciate, and since we're all so attached to Princess, it would be nice to get another cat for Princess to play with. Maybe even have kittens with. I know the house is small and cramped, but it's worth it to have another cat around.


---------------------------------------------------

The day of the party, I was outside most of the day arranging everything. Trying not to get too distracted, but Princess and Tyisha were having so much fun, I had to join in for a minute.



I couldn't have asked for better weather. This Spring has been filled with thunderstorms, almost everyday. Tyisha brings sunshine to any situation, so her birthday was going to be beautiful, I could tell.

All our friends started showing up: Tomika and her boys, Rashid and Marchon, Emerita, Honey and Keva, Sierra Spencer, and Trinity. You ask, "Why was Trinity invited?" Well, she's my doctor. And we're friends. Cameron was the one hung up on her, not vice versa. And he's cool about it now. I forgave him for ditching me for her a long time ago. We know if either of us steps out of line there are two penguin costumes in the closet just waiting to see the light of day again. LOL!

I got a call from Erline Valdes in the midst of greeting everyone. She called to say she and her twin brother, Elmer, wouldn't be able to make it, but their mother was there to represent. That was really thoughtful. We love the Valdes' because they were our neighbors over at Cedar Two Flats. We've become great friends. 'Rita also works with my husband on the website, taking the Census information.



We also had the kids, Charles and Christina Wise over, (CPS Principal/Teacher Maxine Wise's son and daughter). Maxine was invited but I guess she still has beef with me. We had a small altercation in SimCity. Nothing major so I won't go into it. Obviously, it was major to her though...she keeps knocking my trashcan over. Not very mature, if you ask me. I'm still not quite sure if I want Tyisha to attend her school. Of course, Cameron doesn't want to hear it. He's trying to mediate the situation.





True enough, Tyisha needs to be in a better school to prepare her for college, and CPS is equipped to do that. *I'm gonna get Cam' for having my baby out in the rain!*

--------------------------------------------

I ended up serving a spinach quiche for the party. My first time making it, and I guess it wasn't that good 'cause nobody ate it.





Even though we put our dining table and chairs in storage for the party, people were in and out our refrigerator eating snacks all evening. Refusing to come near my spinach quiche!





That didn't matter in the end. They were all there to share in our special day.





My baby grew up! Too bad her father was at work and missed it.



We did her makeover as soon as she finished her cake. She was ready to shed her baby girl looks.



Isn't she gorgeous? Looking just like her Daddy!



A couple days later, Tyrone was born. Much to me and my doctor's delight! Thus ending the longest pregnancy in SH so far (Simday 11 to Simday 20). He weighed 4lbs, so Trinity had to keep him in the hospital for a short while. (The Simday's paper reported a couple days, but it was only for a few hours.)

Kimberly Spencer - Simday 20

Summer is just around the corner, and boy do I have plans! Plans for my husband, that is...

I'm so ready for the weather to change it's been too rainy this Spring. Couldn't enjoy it. Plus, the death of my daughter Shauna made things even more dismal around here. We've bounced back though. I've bounced back. I'm planning on having another baby, whether Sergio wants one or not. He's the one about to hit middle-age, not me. LOL! I think it would be nice for Sierra to have a sister, too. I hope to get pregnant again and have a girl.

Don't misunderstand me...My son, Shaun is a delight to have around the house. He's everything I ever hoped for in a son.



He's a joy to everyone including Sierra. She loves him, although I think she loves our animals a lot more than any of us.

I have taught her how to fish. You'd think a prissy little girl would have a problem with sticking a worm on a hook, not this child. Oh noooo...she wants to bait ALL the hooks! LOL! I love to fish with her because that's when she and I can really talk. We've become so close and I couldn't have it any other way. Sierra is going to be a very bright and interesting adult. I can tell by the questions she asks. Not just the questions themselves, but the way she asks them. You'd have to be there to know what I mean. Oh! and lets not forget to mention pretty, that little girl is gorgeous and a ham for the cameras.



Well, I do all the fishing for The Hills right now, and its kinda wearing me thin. I did it all through my pregnancy with Shaun, too. Hopefully, I'll have some help at the end of this period. I've already gained a Bronze badge and I'm catching some pretty hefty sized fish! Too bad I don't have a picture to prove it, you'll just have to trust me on that.



If I'm not fishing, I'm spending time with my kids and decorating our home. I try to teach Shaun a nursery rhyme we used to sing as children. Like his big sister, he wants to be around the cows, so we go in there and sit on the hay and sing. (Well, his singing actually sounds a lot like he's snoring, but I'm hoping he'll get better the more we practice.)



Here's a couple more pics of my handsome boy.




32 simyears old

Sergio Spencer - Simday 20

46 simyears old

It's a shame. We've had severe thunderstorms way too much this spring. I'm talking enough lighting and thunder to make a light show in the sky. I know I should be grateful for rain when it comes to my crops, but hey...my garden is in a greenhouse. I don't need all this. It was even raining in our house! I had to have a contractor come out and secure the roof.

To make matters worse, Cameron called and told me the pictures we'd sent in for our journal updates were destroyed in a flood at the library. You can imagine, we had a LOT of photos stored up for this period's journal update. Maybe it's for the best. We all tend to get a little long-winded when it comes to our journals.

When I asked him why he didn't store the pictures in his office upstairs, he mumbled something about his pregnant wife and said he never made it over there in time. I bet he didn't lose one book, though.

Fortunately, we were able to salvage a few pictures. We were able to keep the cameras around for a little while after the 5 simday rotation was over, as well...just to get a few more pics.



I'm glad we saved this family photo. My family is certainly larger than the last time you saw us. And, we're living the dream right now. I've got my farm. Have you seen it? Check it out at the site under Home Ownerships/West Cedar Street, if you haven't.

We've settled in nicely here. It's a huge space to fill, but we're working on it, little by little. I've said it before and I'll say it again...the best thing I could've ever done was marry Kim. She put this house together on her own. She knowingly married the "Hardest Working Man" in Simmington Hills; I'm hardly ever at home. We would've still been living in boxes if it hadn't been for her. I told her my preferences and she mixed hers in and came up with a beautiful home for us, in my opinion. (Based on Simmerville native, Dr. Elton Tammer's findings on this subject, each Sim in The Hills has preferences that are listed on their Simology page in the SimYellow Pages. We're exploring how well our preferences can mesh together with our mate's preferences.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have to say things have been going pretty well, despite our most recent loss. My son Shaun was born this period.



He's an active toddler now...time goes by so fast. I can't tell you how happy I am to have a son! I even got us matching outfits...cheesy I know. We've just been through so much, I don't mind getting a little cheese on me.



When I'm home he's always right up under me, trying to do everything Daddy does. I LOVE that feeling more than anything. I wish I was around more often, so we could spend more time together.



He was born a twin, as you may know already...we lost his sister Shauna, shortly after birth. I told Kim, it just wasn't meant to be. Plus, we don't really have the room for 3 kids. We still have to think about changing Sierra's room around to accomodate her brother once he's older. Kim and I both agree that it's nice to have a son together...he looks just like me. I've got so many dreams already for his future. But, I know I'll have to let him find his own way.



I can't close this journal without talking about my little princess, Sierra. She's my angelbaby and is doing very well, I must say. Lord, that child has been through alot in her young years, but she's working hard in school, has an A+ average, and we just enrolled her in CPS with Maxine Wise.

She loves the animals. Kim and I can't PRY her away from the cows and horses, and our dogs...she is always training them or playing with 'em. You last saw Bandit as a puppy but he's grown up now and has a girlfriend, Shasta, who's expecting their pups any day now! Yeah. Bandit was lonely and Sierra begged me to find him a friend. Shasta fits into our family just fine...she's a good dog. She's a beautiful brown and white dog. For some reason Sierra named her Shasta, like the soda pop. (we didn't get any pics of Bandit this time around. He doesn't look like a bandit anymore, though.)



I guess being raised on a farm has influenced our daughter to love all things outdoors. She loves helping me in the garden or helping her Mom with fishing. She jumps off the bus, throws her homework down on the ground and runs around the barns saying hello to all the animals! I wonder where she gets all this energy! I think she gets it from Asya. You know...just the other day, she asked me what happened to her Mother, and I had to explain it the best way I could. Some of the kids told her what they had heard, and it was just a bunch of bullcrap, really.



I also apologized for Asya, because I know she never would've wanted to leave Sierra like she did, but she was very sick. I put a photo of the three of us in her bedroom, so she can see that we were a family once, despite all the arguments.

Kimberly's been a wonderful stepmother to Sierra. She taught Sierra how to fish. Now we can't keep her away from those ponds. Kim's been helping me catch fish, because I plan to eventually remove the restaurant in Aldi's, and put a fish store in that area. The restaurant isn't pulling in enough business to justify me keeping it. Because my harvest is late, the store isn't even bringing that much business in, right now...but, Sabien told me that we're getting a fisherwoman/pet breeder at the end of this period's rotation. I hope to get a contract with her to supply the store with fish, that would help my wife out tremendously. And maybe one day, I can open up another restaurant, if not, that would be fine too. I would really like to expand my farm.

I may be losing money right now, but the positive side is...Sims always need groceries, and we're the only store in town, unless you want to catch a cab or drive downtown to SimCity.

Despite the lack of money and vegetables, Aldi's is now in the "Best of the Best" Club! It took awhile. But, ever since Coca-Cola paid me $1,000 to place Ed Valdes' Billboard Ad up at the store, we've gotten a lot of extra business from it.



His car lot, BBV Motors, is rocking with business and we get a lot of his extra customers into the store. I just wish I had the fruits and vegetables to supply them. Hopefully next period, my big harvest will come. It seems like my crop should've harvested by now, but it hasn't. You would think these customers would be hungry while they're shopping, but they're only buying groceries and clothes, and leaving. I'm not complaining though, it could be worse. Don't forget to check out the tour of my store, also. You can find the link at the site under SimYellow Pages/Sim-Owned Businesses/Aldi's Supermarket & Restaurant

You probably heard that me and Nick patched up all our differences. We're talking again, and I wanted to invite him and his family over to the farm for dinner, but with all the rain, raining inside the house...we just couldn't do it this time around. I'm hoping to see them when summer comes. It will be nice for Sierra to get to know Keva outside of school.

See y'all next time!