The Story so far. . .
The Smith Family has moved in to a wonderful suburban home in Willow Creek. Richard had begun working at the local hospital and has moved up quickly to the position of Assistant Nurse. While Izzie was still young, Elizabeth decided to stay at home in order to care for the youngster. She enjoyed the quality time she was able to spend with her daughter, as well as her other two children, even if William can be a bit of a handful at times (more. . .)
Grade school already!?
Richard couldn't have timed is most recent promotion any better if he tried. Just a day before a certain momentous occasion Richard was promoted from R.N. to General Pracitioner. What occasion could possibly eclipse that!? A birthday of course. Little Izzie wasn't so little any more.
Unfortunately the party wasn't exactly the most perfect party out there. It was great and all, but it wasn't without its hiccups. It turns out Miko's apartment was much smaller than Elizabeth was led to believe and didn't even have a bar for the mixologist she had hired, so there would be no drinks. The caterer was too busy chatting with the guests to actually cook, so Elizabeth had to finish the cake, which Miko didn't appriciate, but it was little Izzie's party and nothing was going to prevent Elizabeth from making sure everything went of without too many hitches.
With the cake done and decorated, all that was life was to call Izzie over and help her blow out her candles. With that Izzie would now start her new life as an elementary schooler! How best to get started than by making friends. Fortunately there were plenty of people around for her to talk to.
Having a sister in elementary school now was nice, Emilie was excited to have someone to join in her in Drama Club, but she was less excited to have to share a room, especially after she had just made it hers. Unfortunatly Izzie's old room was just too small for her now, and it wasn't like Emilie was really hurting for space, so, even if Emilie wasn't exactly thrilled, a new bed was added and Izzie's old room would now become a dedicated play space for the girls. You win some you lose some
Families fight. . .
Suddenly sharing a room with your younger sister can be a bit of a drag. What was once yours now belongs to someone else to, but not everything is shared. If only Izzie wasn't quite so, so, grabby, everything would work out. Emilie tried to set some bounderies, but Izzie just wasn't that accomodating at first.
Of course sibling aren't the only ones who fight. William had some big news to share with the family. He had just been invited into the work force even though he was just a teen. Seeing as William was closet to his mom, she was the first to hear about it. Unforuntately for William she wasn't too thrilled with the idea.
William wasn't too happy that his mom wasn't supportive of the idea of him getting a jumpstart on a career. Elizabeth, however, was only begin practical. While this would be a good headstart, it would mean that William would have to dropout of school. This simply wouldn't do.
Naturally William tried to asert his independence. This led to a rather large fight where Elizabeth was accused of being to controlling. For her part, Elizabeth asserted that William was still young and, needed to at least finish high school.
. . . but they also make up
In the end William decided his mom was right. It wouldn't be good for him to quit school. He called up the PR guy and told him he would not accept the job and he would be finishing high school.
At the breakfast table, Emilie kept shooting glares at Izzie, who seemed to be completely oblivious to her wrath. Was this just how Izzie was? Did Emilie just have to accept it? Emilie decided it best to try and talk to her sister again, and what do you know, it worked! Izzie agreed to not touch or play with Emilie's things. She had enough things to play with in the playroom. In the end they were able to enjoy a nice breakfast together. Emilie had to admit, it was nice having someone who was always there to listen.
A couple's day
Izzie's first day of grade school happened to fall on one of Richard's days off. This was great news for Elizabeth as the couple had not had much time to spend together, just the two of them, since the move. The whole day played out well for the couple. It started with coffee at a nice cafe in Windenburg. Of course, being the active person Elizabeth was, she wasn't going to end the day with just a cup of coffee seating in a coffe shop.
Noticing Richard's belly was not quite a small as it was when they first met, Elizabeth decided it time to put the man to work, and not at the hospital. Fortunately their was a gym not far from the cafe!
What Richard found torturous, Elizabeth actually enjoyed. It was nice to work on actual equipment for a change instead of just swimming laps in the family's pool or jogging.
Of course what Richard found fun, Elizabeth found torturous. After the work out, the two showered and headed to an art exhibit in the city. Elizabeth wasn't too thirlled to view all the works of art with Richard, but they did end up doing something she did find pretty fun.
Richard had decided to take advantage of the eisles found in the place to try his hand at painting. Not wanting to just wonder the museum by herself, Elizabeth decided to joing him. That's where she discovered a love of painting. Though her first work was nothing to write, it lit enough of a fire under her that she decided to head home and learn more about painting.
What to do?
The next day was far less eventful. With Richard at work and the kids at home, Elizabeth found herself alone for the first time since moving into the large suburban home. The house felt downright cavernous and empty, and Elizabeth had nothing to really do. She started mindlessly watching TV and eventually even switched over to the Kid's Network, that she had spent quite a few hours watching with Izzie, only Izzie wasn't there.
With little to do Elizabeth got started making lunches and dinners for the next few days, and even started baking. She baked brownies, doughnuts, even just plain bread. No matter how much she baked or cooked, or even researched painting, she just couldn't shake the feeling that she just wasn't doing anything anymore. Was she even still needed?
Death is a part of life
It had come to William's attention that a member of the club he was in had died. William hadn't known the man particularly well, but had shared several games of darts and foosball with him, so the death hit him a little hard. It really had him questioning the finite nature of life and just how fragile the human experience was.
Talking with Elizabeth about the death of his friend was helpful, but William was still hurting. Though Emilie is still pretty young, she could see William was in pain. She wasn't sure how to help other than to listen. Fortunately Emilie was good at listening. William talked about his friend and even asked why he hurt so much, it wasn't as if he really new the man. Emilie just said it probably feels like that no matter who we lose. Wise words from such a young person.
Two income family
Though Richard only works four days out of the week, Elizabeth still found the house and her days far too empty. She had to do something. Fortunately there was a job posting for a pallet cleaner. It wasn't much money and certainly wasn't that galmorous, but it would get her out of the house and could lead to further opprotunities to do more with something she has come to love. She took the job, which meant a few new change to the house. The playroom would now also be an office.
Harvestfest!
The Smith's first harvest fest in their new house was a bit of a rollercoaster. It was fun for the kids to have the day off from school and an extra paid day off of work was something Richard could alway get behind. Elizabeth wasn't overly excited to miss a day at her new job, but spending it with everyone was certainly something to look forward too.
Unfortunately things started off pretty bad right at the start. The gnome that appeared in Emilie and Izzie's room as easy was practicing her lines in her mirror had shown up angry. Recognizing this, she stopped what she was doing to try an appease the gnome by offering it a toy. This, however, seemed to only anger the gnome further. Emilie tried pleaded for forgiveness, but this also didn't go as expected.
When Izzie got up to the room, she kindly informed Emilie that you didn't appease gnomes. Gnomes where there for kicking! Naturally Emilie knew this would not be good, but she couldn't stop Izzie from kicking her first gnome, nor her second, or even her third.
Naturally this would set off calamity after calamity. The gnome's first target was the the family's stereo. This, however, wasn't enough to stop Izzie from attacking the second wave of gnomes, which would set off a fire by the pool, destroying one of the ottomons. There were many more waves and many more calamities, including broken toilets, showers, and more, that Richard had to fix, but nothing could stop Izzie's rampage she would hunt down and destroy every gnome she could, even if it meant a grounding.
Meanwhile, having given up on trying to stop her sister, Emilie continued practicing her lines while William, who wanted no part of what Izzie was up to, finished his extra credit homework.
Now grounded, and with every gnome destroyed, Izzie was forced to simply watch as Emilie and William (who had finished what they were doing) played games together.
Though school was out, drama club still continued. During the club meeting, a local station had come to interview the teacher on the recent success of the local theatre troop and the school's progam. Emilie would have been tasked with simply acting quietly in the background, but this was simply not her style. She, instead began signing, and all eyes, and the camera were soon on her. She had to admit she loved the attention, but the teacher was furious. Emilie was kicked out of the drama club, but she didn't need them anyway. It was right then and there that Emilie decided what she wanted to do when she grew up, and the teacher would have been in her way.
Emilie could have blamed the angry gnomes, and, by extension, her sister, for her misfortune, but this was also not her style. Besides, Izzie didn't want to continue drama club without Emilie, and quit as soon as she had heard what had happened.
The rest of Harvestfest was quite enjoyable. Being that Emilie is a vagitarian, there was no turkey, but everyone seemed to enjoy the tofurkey just the same as they went around expressing gratitude for everything that has happened since they moved into their new home.
