Update #1

 

AJ has been talking lately, about what happened to him at Fort Starch. 

"Sety and I were escorted to our dorms. Sety and I were placed in separate regiments so we actually hardly saw each other after arriving."

"The commandant there was Capt. Derek Downey, who, coincidentally, was Zachary's father. Zachary was the boy whose house I hit with eggs and firebombs. He didn't like me much. He seemed to have it in for me and was harder on me than he was on the rest of the boys in the regiment."

"I spent most of my days running around campus. building my endurance.  I hated being there, up in the mountains.  It was cold, lonely, and miserable."

"Commandant Downey worked my ass off, had pretty much singled me out, just because of what had happened between me and his kid," AJ said. "I felt like it just wasn't fair. Other kids were pickin' on him too. He looked like a freak. I felt like he was punishing me for what had happened to his boy."

"You know, son, maybe you should write something about what happened to you at Fort Starch. You know, like a cautionary tale, so other kids could learn from what happened to you."

"I dunno, mom," AJ mumbled through his sandwich. "It's still, you know, it's still too raw right now."
"Do you want to talk to someone about it? I mean, I can give you the number of Sage's counselor –"

"I don't want to speak to no d**n counselor!" he thundered angrily.
"You know," I tried to reason, "I just think it might help. It seems to have helped your sister."

I was referring, of course, to Sage’s visit to Dr. Bill.  She has to go back this week, but I have to say she has made tremendous progress.

She’s even made a new friend, who happens to be as horse-crazy as she is.  They like riding through the woods together and hanging out at the horse park. 

I actually think the animals have helped her.  I swear, that girl has a way with the four-legged set. 

And she’s apparently one heck of a diarist.  Dr. Bill had suggested she keep one, and from what I’m told, she’s taken off running with it. 

I’m really worried about AJ.  Ever since he got back, he’s been pretty angry and withdrawn.  I want him to talk to Sage’s counselor, and it just seems like, you know, he’s blaming me for his issues.  He’s so angry with me. And I can’t blame him.  If I was him, I’d be angry with me too.  I failed that boy, badly. 

When he was born I failed to connect with him.  I couldn’t believe that this was actually my son. 

I was holding and feeding him one week on, but I still failed to develop any kind of connection with him. 

I wish I could say it was easier with the other kids, but it wasn’t.  While they were infants, I failed to develop the kind of maternal instincts that I should have, even though they came out of me.  Heck, it was easier for me to bond with Satis than it was either of my biological children. 

Pathetic. 

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?

Satis-fied Part 3

 

Hey everybody, its me, Satis… I didn’t finish telling you guys about prom night.

So anyway, Michael Falcon (yes that’s him in the red sweater) asked me for a dance and I said, sure, okay, why not.  He’s a senior and I mean once you get past the pocket protector he’s actually kind of cute.  And then he told me he’d had a crush on me since he first saw me.  That part was a little bit much. 

Sierra became a toddler, and she spends a lot of time playing with this strange looking doll.  I’ve never seen this kind of doll before, some far-off relative sent it after she was born.  I swear, all Sierra does is cry and poop.  Mostly cry.  A lot. 

So Sety and I were in the kitchen eating PB &J sandwiches and we were casually talking when I found out Mr. Pythagoras, the math teacher and debate coach, had asked him to try out for the presidency.  “I so nervous,” he said between bites, “I dunno what to say.”

“Say what you’ve been saying in the debates,” I told him, “and you’ll do fine.”

“But I not been saying anything in the debates.”

“Obviously the teacher wouldn’t be suggesting you for the post if he didn’t see you had potential.”

I looked over.  It was mom, she’d been listening the whole time. 

“Why did you even join debate if you’re not going to say anything?”  I asked him.  But it hadn’t taken me long to figure it out.  He did it because of a girl.

Sety, Sety.  I love him and he’s my brother but sometimes I don’t know what to think.  I can’t see him not being president though, as I can’t think of anyone else to do it. 

As for me… well, I’ll be doing a lot more writing.  As in, I was just chosen to do articles for Student Gossip Weekly. 

Right up my alley.

Now that I’m prom queen and my brother is prom king, I get to dish out as much dirt as I got while I was in elementary school and just learning Simlish after coming from Egypt. 

And my first order of juicy gossip at Community School for the Not-So-Gifted….

Do everything you possibly can to avoid this girl. 

Her name is Candice Lakin and she makes a lot more enemies than friends.  Most of the other girls hate her and the boys do whatever they can to avoid her.  Candice picks fights with people for no reason at all.  Doesn’t matter if she knows them personally or not. 

There’s a new student in two of my classes.  I happened to come from newspaper when I saw the moving van park down the street.  Saw a man and a woman and this teenage boy get out.  I assume they’re his parents???

A Big Day

 

Hey, it’s me, Savannah, looking up from my novel to tell you about a HUGE day in the lives of the Plumbs. 

It began inauspiciously enough, with crying Sierra in the crib in our bedroom. 

The little tyrant disturbing my sleep really pissed me off.  It took me awhile to calm down, so I simply walked away. 

All Andy did was pick her up and she stopped crying.  Hate to say it but he is STILL way better at this parenthood thing than I am.  And yet he wants MORE children.  He has lied.

One of the neighbor kids, Michael Falcon, asked Satis to the prom.  Michael is kind of geeky, actually.  I’d rather her with a geek than a muscle bound guy who’s going to cheat on her. 

Meanwhile, Sety and AJ managed to chase each other around the house before finally taking it outside. 

And Andy, fresh from tending to Sierra, went outside to play hide and seek with Sage. 

It was time for AJ to blow out his candles.  Today he would become a teen. 

My little man all grown up *sniff*  and already he’s asking for a car and a driver’s license.  Sigh. 

Here he is after he got cleaned up.  Goodness he looks like his dad.  The brown hair is from my mom, shockingly enough.

After AJ blew out his candles, Sety and Satis sneaked out to go to their prom, also being held that evening. 

But AJ wasn’t the only person celebrating a birthday.

Yep yours truly.  Joining the ranks of the adults.

And who did I spy at my party?  Oh yes.  Bassy and then a lady in a bright pink vest.  Ugh.  Dad didn’t have to bring HER here.

Dena Hart.  As in, his new girlfriend.  Ugh.  Such a killjoy. 

Yep it’s me, with a few more age lines on my face.  I’m no longer a young adult.

 

I was tossing and turning in my bed when I heard Satis and Sety coming in from their prom.  They’d been named king and queen! 

They came in and ate PB & J sandwiches and went to bed.  By then we were ALL tired. 

More from Satis

In the old stories of Egypt, Satis was the goddess of the floods of the Nile River. My name means "she who shoots forth." According to the books, she was a war, hunting, and fertility goddess who was seen as the mother of the river. Our mother, Fatima, named me and my twin brother Imsety after Egyptian gods. I suppose she meant us to become god like.
I don't remember much about her or our father, Samir. Mom told us that he was a major crime boss in a company called MorcuCorp. We were little when we were adopted and smuggled away from Egypt and neither of us have been back since.
It has been a struggle for us to hold on to our Egyptian language and customs since arriving in Sunset Valley. When Halima was here she helped with that, but now that she is gone all Imsety and I have of Egypt is each other. I miss her, a lot. I'm sure Imsety does, too.

One thing Mom and I have in common is we both love to read.  As soon as I got to Sunset Valley she gave me her own Simlish primers first, then I moved on to more challenging books, including her own aunt Meg Plumb’s Moon Colony series.  My love of reading is the reason my Simlish is much better than my brother’s.  I’ve been complemented on my good diction and penmanship. 

The house next door to ours on Pinochle Point had been vacant for as long as I can remember, until very recently, when a family moved in.  The best part is the family has not one, but TWO girls our age! 

The oldest of the two girls, Carrie Phillips, asked if she could ride the bus home with me.  I didn’t refuse. 

School has not been easy for me or my brother.  We’ve been teased for our heavily accented Simlish and I’ve often sat alone in the cafeteria, or if Imsety has the same lunch period, he’d come sit by me.  “My parents thought a change of scenery might do us some good,” Carrie said as she sat next to me.  I didn’t know what that meant.

I followed Carrie into her home, and she explained that they hadn’t quite finished packing yet, so there were boxes all over. 

Meanwhile, I took a glance outside the window and I saw Imsety running toward our house with Carrie’s younger sister, Amy.  Amy has a blond ponytail, while Carrie’s hair is darker. 

“Satis,” Carrie said, “you have an unusual name.”

“It’s Egyptian,” I told her. 

“Wow, you’re from Egypt?  Where all the pyramids and stuff are?”

“You got it.”

Carrie told me her father Peter and her mother Elizabeth decided to move the family for a change of scenery.  Then, Peter got a job at Landgraab Industries and Elizabeth began working at Doo Peas in journalism.

I got the feeling there was something Carrie wasn’t telling me.

Guest blogger - Satis!

Hallo! It's me, Satis Plumb.

I am a teenager, living in Sunset Valley. It's a nice place. Not as hot as home, but no place can be as hot as Al Simhara, Egypt, where I'm from.

My twin brother, Imsety, and I were adopted back when we were kids by Savannah Plumb. We don't remember much about it, and Mom has not talked much about it, either. We were told that we were adopted and we just excepted it.

When we were little, we had an Egyptian nursemaid, Halima Meshkenet. She spoke both Egyptian and Simlish to us.

I love to read. In fact, I think my love of books is the reason why my Simlish is much better than my twin brother's. Since coming to Sunset Valley, I read a lot of books and most of them were in Simlish.

One evening we were in the kitchen where my brothers, Sety and AJ, were eating lobster thermidor the butler had cooked.

"Have either of you boys done your homework?" I asked them while they ate. When they didn't answer I knew they had not done it.

The only thing on their mind seemed to be the fishing trip to Pinochle Pond they were planning for the weekend. Sety was explaining to AJ about the types of bait needed to catch goldfish. Whatever.

AJ is my little brother. He's the son of Savannah and her husband, Andrew. That's why he is called AJ, for Andrew Jeffery. He had Halima as a nanny too and because of that, he speaks very good Arabic. He mostly talks to Sety in Arabic and me in Simlish. AJ gets very high marks in school. He is in the elementary school section while Sety and I are in high school.