Good morning, all! Have I got news for you! I was floating around the manor when who should show up at my doorstep but my own dearly departed uncle Walt. Why, I hadn’t seen him since he died of old age a few years back! He used to farm the lands east of Berthiaume Manor (he grew the most wonderful sweet corn) and never had children, so his land went up for sale after his passing.

Well, he stopped by to tell me someone had finally bought his property. And what’s more, they’re going to build a college on it! That was exciting news, to be sure. Now the young folk won’t have to go to the big city for their education. They can stay right here in the beautiful hills and meadows of Mt. Geneva.

It’s too bad the college wasn’t built already when Will Dobbins came of age — he would have enjoyed furthering his education. Perhaps then he could have started his political career as a Lobbyist instead of a lowly campaign worker. But he seemed to work his way up to Lobbyist pretty quickly without a degree.

He also worked on getting Paige to fall in love with him, but it wasn’t easy, especially on his limited budget. He knew she was impressed by extravagance, so he scrimped and saved to buy a luxurious hot tub. Then he invited Paige and several of his friends over for a party. With people making merry all around, Will shmoozed Paige as much as he could, but it still wasn’t enough.

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Hello, dear readers, and welcome back to my little corner of SimNation. This is Maude Berthiaume, Mt. Geneva’s spectral scribe, with the continuing story of the Dobbins family. You’d think they were the only family in Mt. Geneva given how much I focus on them, wouldn’t you? Well, they certainly are one of my favorites to watch, but Mt. Geneva is booming, and I’d love to tell you all about some of its new inhabitants. All in good time! For now let’s see how Will Dobbins is doing now that he’s out on his own.

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Hello dears, it’s Maude here, with a little thing I like to call “catching up with the Dobbinses”. You see, while Nick Dobbins was busy womanizing half of Mt. Geneva, and Joely Dobbins was busy running the household, their two sons Will and Rory were growing up fast, and I could hardly keep up! I had started roaming around town peeking in on some of the other new families, so I wasn’t spending as much time with the Dobbins family.

When I did look in, I saw scenes of domestic comfort. Nick became a chef at Spanky’s Steakhouse and must have eaten everything in their icebox, because he developed quite a little pot belly. Between grilling steaks and paying clandestine visits to Tess Blakemore, he helped Joely raise their two precocious boys.

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Life went on as usual in the Dobbins household for some time before Nick, as you may remember, began to flirt with the maid, reverting back to his old libidinous habits. No one but your humble narrator suspected anything, however, and the outwardly happy couple found themselves once again anticipating a child. Yes, here’s Joely clad in the Purple Pajamas of Pregnancy:

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Maude here with the continuing tale of Joely Dobbins and her marriage to erstwhile womanizer, Nick. I say ‘erstwhile’ because he seemed to give up his wanton habits when he married Joely. After all, he did as he said he would, and procured a job — as a dishwasher at Spanky’s Steakhouse. As for Joely, her urgent desire to marry Nick had been fulfilled, so she focused on her career for a time, moving up to the position of Nurse at the Mt. Geneva Clinic.

For awhile the newlyweds basked in the glow of the honeymoon phase. They purchased new furniture for the house, met more neighbors, and worked on improving useful skills such as cooking and cleaning. But eventually Joely felt her maternal urges returning, and she asked Nick if he would like to try for a baby. He thought it was a splendid idea. They got right down to business, and very soon Joely was pregnant!

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Maude here with the continuing story of Joely Dobbins and her quest to start a family. Last we left Joely, she had fallen in love with Mt. Geneva’s resident playboy, Nick, and he seemed to requite the sentiment!

Women all over town were swooning over the dashing young man, and yet he seemed content to spend his evenings at Joely’s house, playing and flirting into the wee hours. Even I got tired of them pawing at each other, and ghosts don’t get tired, my dears! But Joely was determined, and it paid off handsomely. One night after an enthusiastic foray into what the kids call “making out”, Joely got down on one knee and proposed to Nick!

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Maude Berthiaume here with the first installment of “Greetings from Mt. Geneva”. If you don’t know me, I’m an old spinster living in Berthiaume Manor, which overlooks the lovely village of Mt. Geneva. Since I live in that great big house all alone, I have nothing better to do than to flit around town and poke my nose into everyone else’s business. I can roam about undetected and no one is the wiser because, well — I’m a ghost! (More on that later.)

Let me tell you a little bit about Mt. Geneva. It used to be just our lonely manor on the hill, and the Barnavelt House down the road, and perhaps a farm or two in the valley that my family owned. As soon as I died, leaving no heirs, the land in the valley was divided and sold to a bunch of city folks. I mourned the loss of our dear, peaceful woodlands and meadows, but let me tell you, talking to squirrels gets old. Things are much more exciting around here with some new faces to spy on.

One of the families I’ve been watching lately has been the Dobbins family, which began with just one Dobbins, a young woman by the name of Joely. Isn’t she charming?

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