It was right after I took a 3-day licensing exam. The exam takes 2 months of full-time studying beforehand, and my precious breaks were filled with reading Sims blogs for the first time. The blogs made me want to play so much! So the game was my relaxing "reward" after the exam. (Good thing I waited till AFTER the exam!)
The first family I played was the Glover (?) couple in Sunset Valley, where I built a version of the dream house that was my obsession at the time, sort of a modern Tudor-y storybook mansion. Someone found a huge space rock so we put it right in the middle of a round terrace overlooking the town.
Thoughts when I first played TS3:
1, This is awesome! WHY did I wait so long to switch to TS3 from TS2?!?!
2, My, the Sims stir their salad bowls so vigorously...
Back to Sims after a 2-year hiatus!
Blogs, to be resurrected once I get a new graphics card load TS3 on my new computer:
STEALIE NICKS Klepto King Challenge (updated 9/16/14)
THE HOUSE OF MOODICI (the Altos' Renaissance in Riverview)
my EA forums page