@NimbindiOh my goodness! You went through quite an ordeal to get your game up and running! Well, it's probably best that you just let the dust settle a bit and enjoy the game you have. I wouldn't judge the seasons by the poor weather you went through. Once you have played the game without it for a while, you may feel up for some changes, and that is a really cool part of what seasons brings.
Personally, I added packs one at a time, and most of the time when Origin had one on sale that I wanted. I picked up Cats and Dogs along with seasons (on sale) and didn't even try do anything with the Cats and Dogs area for a while because I thought it sounded like dealing with toddlers but less motivating. 😉
Keep in mind that if you add seasons there is a lot of gardening stuff, plus a florist and botanist career, which I have had a ball with! If you ever get both seasons and 'Get to Work', and if you like gardening and flower arranging, you can try out my 'Country Florist Cafe 2.0' (in my Origin gallery) IF you have a household developed with a cook, a florist, and a do gardening (though I think the plants you would need for the cooking and gardening are all in the cafe lot - along with the kitchen, cupcake machine, and flower-arranging table). I think that was the most fun to run for me, and they made thousands a day. You cook and make flower arrangements and the food (and produce you harvest) can be dragged directly into the 'Lice Cold Freezer'. Customers purchase directly from the freezer and all you have to do customer-wise is handle the flower-arrangement sales and clean some. Anyway, the florist career comes with seasons. Just one example of some things you may not have realized you can do with seasons, 'Get to Work', etc.
All depends on what you end up finding that you enjoy most in your gaming style. Also, remember that in seasons you can change the settings to not include thunder and lightening or blizzards, and you can turn off strong effects of weather on your sims. There is also an umbrella holder in build mode that you purchase and have each sim take an umbrella. They keep it and pull it out when out in the rain. Good to know...
Anyway, I'm glad you finally got your game and I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I do!