Home Is Where The Heart Is Part 2

 

So, as you guys know, my family and I are back home – Sunset Valley, that is.  We’re here because my father is receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award, and a new arts facility, the Nathan J. and Shandra B. Plumb Performing Arts Center, has opened.  The facility was so named to honor my parents’ substantial contributions to the arts in Sunset Valley. 

They even let Sety out of Fort Starch on furlough so he could participate in the festivities.  AJ has been out for some time. 

AJ was shook up by Fort Starch, but Sety wasn’t fazed at all.  At least, as far as I could tell.  It’s quite possible that I have no idea what Sety went through in Egypt.  Satis tried to tell me but the words were even hard for her.  The abuse they went through at the hands of that crazed madman known as their biological father was just inconceivable to my affluent, Anglo-Saxon, Western ears.  And I think Satis has basically blocked it out while Sety has had more problems dealing with it.  Maybe I should have them talk to Sage’s counselor. 

After the Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak was overthrown, their biological father, Samir Amin, who was apparently running a covert operation in the guise of a computer business, was thrown in jail too. 

Which is why I was so against Satis going to Egypt. 

Oh and I found out something else about Sety.  He is dyslexic. 

Returning to Sunset Valley is fraught with emotion.  I was born and raised here, my father was born and raised here, my grandmother established her practice here.  We have deep roots in this town.  Of course, the emotional part of me wants to come back here permanently, but the sensible part of me knows that it’s not really possible, especially with my new job as Hidden Springs’ minister of culture.  Also, with my children growing up, it would be selfish of me to uproot them again, after I’ve done it before.  Sage still hasn’t recovered from the last move. 

The Nathan J. and Shandra B. Plumb Performing Arts Center is a HUGE facility right by Summer Hill.  When I say this place is big, I mean it. There is a big stage right near the front along with an entrance. 

The first act we got to perform there was a magician, Azzie the Magnificent.  (Click the picture to see the Facebook album we made of the event)  Sage is apparently a big fan of his, and Bassy even got an autographed poster for her after his performance was done. 

Stay Tuned for Home is Where the Heart Is Part 3 – Getting Madison Avenue to come to NJP. 

Mag Interview #3

Savannah Plumb Cheesman's stunning interview
Her most candid yet, the author, adventurer, minister of culture and full time mom spills on a wide range of topics.




Savannah Plumb Cheesman has always been a 'shoot from the hip' kind of girl. 'Say it' or 'do it' now, think later, should have been her motto. It's an impulsiveness she inherited from her movie-composer father, Nathan, who famously wrote more than three hundred musical compositions, several of which were used in hit films. But leavening the impulsivity is a practical streak inherited from her mother, Shandra, the first female conductor of the Sunset Valley orchestra.
When she returned recently (along with her expansive brood) to the friendly confines of Sunset Valley for the dedication of the Nathan J. Plumb Arts Center, she sat down with our Jeni Conzonire -- and what she revealed to us was stunning.
Everyone reading this knows Mrs. Cheesman's background already. She was born to Sunset Valley royalty, the king and queen of the town's arts scene. Her mother, a gifted polymath and classical pianist, met her father, the brash, flashy young upstart musician, in the orchestra. They hit it off and eventually, married.
Celebrity: Savannah, you grew up around music, your parents were involved in it, your brother Noah was involved in it, your other brother (Sebastian Plumb) seems to be coming around to it as well, how come you didn't follow that path?
Savannah Plumb Cheesman: Can I be frank with you?
Celebrity: Sure.
Savannah: I spent my whole life running away from being a Plumb.
Celebrity: Really? Explain.
Savannah: I think it -- I don't know -- I think it was a part of me that, you know, couldn't deal with it. I knew that at some level I was different. Though I liked playing guitar, you know, and taking the art lessons and stuff, I was much more interested in other things.
Celebrity: Such as?
Savannah: History, archaeology, adventure. That was it. I couldn't see myself living the staid proper life of a socialite.
Celebrity: Yet that's exactly what you're doing now.
Savannah: Funny how that works huh? I got sick while I was in China, then I got married and had my kids. I love my kids and I wouldn't trade them for the world, but, you know, sometimes I wonder, you know, what if...
Celebrity: Tell me about Andrew. Now, he's the soccer player you're married to, and he's the biological father of your four children.
Savannah: Andy and I met in high school.
Celebrity: Did you guys start dating in high school?
Savannah: No, we couldn't stand each other.
Celebrity: How, then, did you guys end up married? And he is the father of your four children?
Savannah: He was incredibly persistent.
Celebrity: What do you mean by that?
Savannah (laughs) He chased me down! When I went missing in Egypt he and my parents arranged a search party to find me. Then he told me this story about how he'd always loved me from the first time he saw me -- and I was gone. What convinced me more was when he went with me to the adoption proceedings when I adopted my children. I figured he had to really love me if he was going to take me on and my two children.
Celebrity: While you were in Egypt, you adopted your two oldest kids, Imsety and Satis. It was a controversial adoption because it was the first of its kind in Simland.
Savannah: It was a transatlantic adoption. I had to submit an adoption application and then petition the courts in Egypt and in Sunset Valley. A lot of people were skeptical that it could work, including my dad and my fiance. It was a very stressful period, but it was all worth it. I got two great kids.
Celebrity: You have written that adopting your kids completely changed your life. You still feel that way?
Savannah: Absolutely. Meeting them while on adventure in Egypt, that completely changed my life. I don't think I'd be sitting here if I hadn't.
Celebrity: Where do you think you'd be?
Savannah (sighs) I don't know, um, perhaps I would be out adventuring. I don't know.
Celebrity: Soon after your wedding to Andrew, you got pregnant.
Savannah: He was ecstatic. I was a little apprehensive. I wasn't sure how I'd do as a mom. I figured I wasn't mom material. I remember thinking, Ok I can chase down a mummy in Egypt, but how am I going to chase a toddler around in diapers? Then AJ was born, and I froze. I had no idea what to do. I had this screaming kid in my arms and I just stood there. Luckily Andy is a MUCH better parent than I ever could think to be.
Celebrity: Speaking of AJ, is he the one that was sentenced to boot camp?
Savannah: Yes, and it crushed me completely. Tore me up inside. Actually, though, it was him and his older brother --
Celebrity: Imsety, one of the two kids you adopted from Egypt.
Savannah: Completely tore me up. The whole situation. I didn't handle it well at all. I remember thinking at that moment that I'd completely failed as a parent.
Celebrity: But your other adopted daughter, Satis, turned out fine.
Savannah: She's been a complete blessing to me. She helps out with the younger kids --
Celebrity: Speaking of the younger kids, you had a daughter, Sage, who's a teenager now, and you've had your struggles with her too.
Savannah: Sage and I have had our issues. I've learned that she is a vegetarian, which I don't necessarily agree with, but my philosophy has always been to allow my children to develop their own interests and personalities, to not force them to conform to a mold. This is easier said than done, however, because I'm a bit of a control freak, so to take my feet off the gas, so to speak, and allow things to happen is not really a natural impulse of mine.
Celebrity: How did you feel when Sage wrote the letter to you and when she called Dr. Bill?
Savannah: I was stunned. Completely blindsided. I had no idea she felt this way. I was tempted to send her away just to not have her around anymore. But Andy and Dr. Bill convinced me that we needed to spend more time together, you know, just getting to know each other. Can I tell you a story?
Celebrity: Sure.
Savannah: When Sage was a child, she had this science project where she had to collect insects from around the community. She came home crying because she couldn't find this one water beetle, and, you know, it really frustrated her that she couldn't find this beetle, and she did a report on the extinction of the water beetle.
Celebrity: So she's an environmentalist.
Savannah: I'd say so. And my younger daughter, Sierra, completely scares me because she is exactly like I was when I was her age.
Celebrity: What do you mean by that?
Savannah: I was a tomboy! My mother was very frustrated by that. She'd, you know, put on these lovely little dresses and I'd come back with them dirty and ripped.

Home Is Where The Heart Is Part 1

 

Hello again, c’est moi, Savannah Plumb Cheesman, catching a break. 

Two days ago we arrived in Sunset Valley, my birthplace and hometown.  Why?  We’re here for the dedication of the Nathan J. Plumb Performing Arts Center, which was recently built. 

Even my kid brother, Bassy, is here, having emerged from his month-long seclusion.  I worry about him, seriously.  I can’t help it.  Ever since he was born, it’s always been my responsibility to protect him.  It’s what I do.  I haven’t done that and I feel bad about it.  I never wanted a little brother, but now that he’s here, I don’t know how I ever lived without him.

He did this once before, when he’d just turned teen, I’d gone to Egypt and he pretty much clammed up.  Shut himself off from the world.  Wouldn’t go anywhere, wouldn’t answer the door, just shut himself up in his room.  So I know something is up, I just haven’t figured out exactly what, yet. 

Meanwhile, he has been entertaining my kids with his renditions of dad’s guitar compositions.  Sage in particular loves him to death.  He gave her one of his golden retriever puppies. 

Back in Hidden Springs, just before we left for Sunset Valley, we were surprised by a personal visit from the Queen herself.  “What can I do for you?” Andy asked.

“I’d like to see your wife, if you don’t mind,” I heard the queen say in her haughtiest voice.

Of course I was in no condition to see anyone.  After all, Skylar had been running me (and all of us) completely ragged. 

In fact, Max, our new butler, almost quit because of Skylar.  She is a handful, far worse than any of my other kids combined. 

“Mrs. Cheesman,” she began, “I’ve left an invitation to my son’s wedding in your mailbox.  But that’s not why I came here.  I came to personally appoint you as minister of culture for Hidden Springs.”

I gulped.  “Minister of culture?  What’s that?”

“In layman’s terms, someone who arranges the community’s entertainment.  You would also oversee the art museums.”

I had to admit the position intrigued me.  After all I did grow up in show business and still have plenty of contacts in the industry.  Between Andy’s sports acquaintances and my Simmywood acquaintances, we pretty much have the bases covered.

The first act I booked in Subalpine Square was a magician, Azzie the Magnificent.  The kids loved him, especially Sage.  Sierra could care less, lol.

Next was a pop singer called Yours Truly.  Apparently Princess Anastasia (one of the Vanderburg twins) showed up wearing only her bathing suit in front of the guy, which my kids and I found hilarious. 

And the other day Andy took the kids to see Marcelo the Flexible perform his high-wire act in the Coliseum. 

So we leave for Sunset Valley, for this dedication ceremony.  I’m actually kind of dreading it.  I just know something is going to go wrong. 

Just Plumb -- Insanity?

My mother and I were talking on Simbook, and we concluded that a streak of insanity has to be a hidden trait in this family.
We arrived at this conclusion after my darling little brother posted on his Simbook that he has decided once again to pick up sticks and head to a new locale. This time, to Starlight Shores. I don't know why he is so untethered. I suppose in his own way he has a wanderer's spirit. He's had this amazing success as an actor, but I get the sense that he is restless, that he isn't satisfied, that it's not really what he wants. Then there were the rumors that he got his ex-girlfriend pregnant in Bridgeport. I warned him that if this was his child, he had to take care of his responsibility. I don't want him to be a deadbeat dad, if he is. I also reminded him that, even though he's a huge star, he is STILL my little brother. I won't ever let him forget that.
There is a streak of stubbornness, independence, and idealism running through the family, and I now see traces of it running through all three of my biological children and also in Satis, the child I raised. Sometimes I think Satis has been around me way too long. The fact that she defied me and hightailed it to Egypt when I warned her that a) it was too dangerous and b) she was going to be found out, recalls my own youthful impetuousness. I told AJ that when he got out of military school he would have to decide what he wanted to do with his life. AJ told me that he wants to go backpacking through China and Egypt. That's another one who's been around me way too long. lol As for my daughter, Sage, we suddenly can't keep her off her horse longer than five seconds. She'd rather ride a horse than drive a car. And my youngest daughter seems to be very athletically inclined, very much into sports.
One thing I've always encouraged in my children is individualism. I've pretty much taken my hands off the pedals and let them explore their own paths. The funny thing is, that's kind of hard for me to do because I'm a control freak. I like being in charge. It's the approach Dad took with Bassy and me. He never forced us into the music biz, although Bassy seems to be coming into it on his own, after 'dabbling' in acting (hard to imagine me saying a multiple acting award winner is dabbling in acting, but that's what I think anyway). I'm not sure his heart is in music either, but whatever. He's going to do what he's going to do, who am I to say anything about it.
I can't say I've really dealt with Sage's rant. I know it shocked us to our core, and to have it come from Sage of all people -- who pretty much hadn't said anything, was just kind of stunning. I just didn't understand -- and still don't, really -- understand why she is so angry with me. Why does she hate me?