Week 7

Last week was all about aging. We had a ton of birthdays and one death. I really feel bad for poor Agrimony. If only I'd waited to get her a job in Science till AFTER Burdock had grown-up. I'm having a super hard time keeping her in the green, let alone platinum. Really, I'm thinking it might be better if she's NOT platinum when she crustifies, that way she won't stick around for so long. Glen is still slowly trudging along in his career, and the big question of the moment is which restrictions to unlock next. Don't forget to help me out by voting.

With Bon Voyage now installed, and no new rules for it yet, I've decided to make a few of my own until Pinstar comes up with some. For now, the family won't be allowed to go on vacation until Military is lifted (duh!), and when they are allowed to go on vacation they'll have to choose places that meet the current restrictions (at least to some degree). For instance, until Music is lifted they will only be allowed to visit Three Lakes. I know that the seasons there are Fall/Fall/Winter/Winter, but I'm thinking it's close enough. I'll even make special lots that meet the current restrictions. Doesn't matter much right now anyway with Military still in place, and by the time that's removed Pinstar may have his own rules ready. On with the Show!

Day 43 - Monday (Winter)
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I'm not sure why, but Agrimony suddenly felt a burning urge to read to Betony outside in the snow in their jammies. Whatever makes you happy dear. (This was sooo not user directed)

Just a typical day in the House of Leaf. With no job, no children needing attention, and no skills left to build, the only thing left for Agrimony to do is train the pets.

"Like, OMG, that kid is totally not looking at my face!"

Marylena, you should be grateful he's not looking at your face, have you noticed how huge your mouth is?

Way to go Mr. Whiskers! Two more promotions and Burdock and Betony can skill again. *I realized after rereading my last post that Burdock shouldn't have been able to gain those body skill points so I've removed them from him. I do try to follow the rules, it's just hard remembering what they CAN do.*

The only good thing about living in perpetual winter is that there's almost always enough snow for a snowman or a snowball fight.

Poor Betony, she's so bummed out that she can't learn to study, but she still has to do her homework. As is often the way with children, she hasn't figured out that her homework would be easier if she'd learn to study first. Maybe once Mr. Whiskers becomes a Star he'll provide enough entertainment for her to try to learn to study.

Meanwhile Burdock tries to use his limited charms on Marylena, but it's not really working for him. She's many things, but a pedophile isn't one of them.

Lots of snow for snow angels too. For some reason this family has a real issue with putting on outerwear when they go outside. I even moved the stairs outside so that they'd go out on the porch first in the hopes that they'd change, but they always seem to forget. It's a good thing they have nice warm baths to warm them up!

For once I'm happy to see a wolf on this lot. Much as I don't want Agrimony hanging around too long as an elder I just don't have the heart to allow her to grow up badly and some interaction with Alegra should cheer her up.

It seems to me that the pets are doing better in this post-apocalyptic world than the sims are. Anywho, way to go Sassy, I don't want to loose those comfy beds.

Day 44 - Tuesday (Winter)
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Yay Mouse! Mouse has to take over from Saki when Saki passes on, so this is good. Until Burdock becomes a Criminal Mastermind we have to keep pets around all the time. Anybody know if once Criminal is lifted if a new pet has to reach the top, or does it count as lifted if you have a living cat who is at the top of their career?

Everyone repeat after me: "We love Red Hands!!!"

For once Agrimony and I have remembered that the MMO servers will be down for a few hours this morning!

Aww, Agrimony's the best Mom ever, she invited over the only teenage girl that she's best friends with to give her little Romance sim a shot at her. Unfortunately he's not that impressed with her. In Knowlton she's a Fortune sim, so that could be why.

Good boy Mouse! It's about to become even more important that you're prepped to take over from Saki.

Trust Agrimony to crustify in her pajamas. Truth be told I had her age a few hours early since Betony arriving home with an A+ put her into Gold. Like I said, I just didn't have the heart to let her age badly.

Well, at least now we can all call Agrimony "The Crazy Old Cat Lady"!!!

So far the only sim with really bad taste in clothing is Burdock. How cute is it that Agrimony's outfit compliments her daughter's?

Like most other Plumbbob Dieties, I've decided that chores that build skills are ok even if they're not fun. Hey, until Mr. Whiskers becomes a star this is the only way he can build any skills other than logic.

You know Burdock, this family hasn't been THAT hungry for a long time.

Cat ghosts are creepy. 'nuff said.

Day 45 - Wednesday (Winter)
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"So Laura, if I tip you $100 simonleans will you let me kiss me?"
"No, but you can do it anyway."

Poor Romance sim. Living in a world without dates is hard on the poor kid. Unfortunately for him the poll is not looking good for him being able to move out. To date I've got exactly two votes and they're both for Adventure/Gamer.

Dagmar here is the source of all your future happiness Burdock, so be nice. I'm not going to waste a sim who's actually got friends and a job on someone who will never marry, and since Dagmar is a Romance sim they should get along swimmingly.

Way to go Mouse. The RL Mouse was always good with people too. Really he was one of the most affectionate cats I've ever met. Not only did he love his people, he actually liked most visitors and didn't mind Sassy (aka Her Highness, aka Queen Bee) always interrupted his bathing so that he could bath her.

Oh Fragit! I was so busy helping Burdock chat up Dagmar that I forgot it was 11am and hence time to get all the elder pets outside. Darn it! Now I'm going to have Kim's graving blocking up the main level for generations.

Go Mr. Whiskers!

Gotta love snowball fights. No relationship requirements whatsoever. Jason here is a potential spouse for Betony because he's usually a Family sim if I recall correctly. It's getting to the point that I can't remember the aspirations of all the townies and downtownies, there are so many of them, never mind the uni dormies.

Day 46 - Thursday (Winter)
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Snow Day!!! This family gets so many snow days that you'd think the novelty would have worn off for them, but it hasn't.

I guess Burdock's not a total waste as a Romance sim.

I love this family! I haven't got anything I want Glen and Agrimony doing, so as soon as I stopped bossing them around they started getting all lovey dovey. Meanwhile, Burdock has developed a want to be friends with Dagmar all on his own. Of course, they're all too stupid to put on their outerwear for all this, but whatever, someone will thaw them out, as long as it isn't Betony.

Burdock talked to Dagmar 'til he was blue in the face, literally. Eventually they became friends, just in time for him to hop in the shower, so no sim popsicle here folks.

Agrimony and Glen have better ways of warming up!

Hooray! Skill building children who learn to do their homework properly, here we come!

Meadow! I'm so glad to see you, you've got to be just about the easiest teen sim I've ever met. Help poor Burdock out, will ya?

Not the brightest plumbbob our Meadow, but at least she's usually easy to seduce.

This is the house that stink built.

Day 47 - Friday (Winter)
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Happy Birthday Sake, you're one of the most aggressive pets I've ever met, but we love you.

Congratulations Glen! At least now I know that you'll be a happy ghost when you're time comes.

Less than three hours before Betony becomes a teenager and she's finally learning to study. Poor kid will never have homework again, but at least it'll guarantee that she grows up well.

Burdock's had a lot of chores today. Both toilets and the shower broke, both pet houses need cleaning, and the litter boxes need to be emptied. Poor guy is miserable, but that's life in Waknuk.

Please choose a decent outfit *crosses fingers*

The outfit isn't awful, but it seems a bit inappropriate for a town stuck in a post-apocalyptic nuclear winter. Lord, I'm just dying to do her eyebrows and give her some makeup!

Betony Leaf
Aspiration: Family
LTW: Become Captain Hero
Neat-2, Outgoing-7, Active-10, Playful-10, Nice-6
Sagittarius

I think someone's happy that they don't have to get married. Don't worry Burdock, you'll still get to change diapers.

Day 48 - Saturday (Winter)
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It's amazing how two sims who have such different views on life can be so close.

Agrimony's crustification doesn't seem to have made a difference to Glen at all. In fact they spend even more time together now than they did when they first got married.

Poor Burdock, he keeps putting the moves on her, but I think he'll need to invite her over to get his first kiss, which means not till Tuesday. Are there any rules about the ReNuYu Porta-Chug? Glen has two in his inventory, and I think it would be beneficial for Burdock to be attracted to blonds in hats, don't you? Or maybe that falls in the category of things that will work again after Adventure is unlocked?

"Oh yah, we rock, we cool, we rock"

Aww, come on Betony, I know you know the moves.

"My sister is scary"

Hah! My first ever picture of smustle eyes! It only took me since NL first came out. Evil eyes and goofy eyes. ForevScuba got me hooked on the Smustle Eyes with her Walt Disney Legacy. If you're looking for a good laugh, that's definitely a legacy you should read.

It's cruel, but from now on Agrimony has to go meditate outside in the waist deep snow for awhile around 6pm. I do NOT want another urn in the house.

Glen! You idiot! I said make A snowman, not two snowmen and a snowangel. You're so lucky you're not a popsicle already. Go get in that tub right now. Geez, I play sims to get away from my children doing stupid things like that, not to watch you be stupid. Arghh!!!!!

As you can see, the family finally got some armchairs. I got so sick of everyone blocking up the tables with their reading that I had no choice. I'll tell you one thing. If I ever do an apocalypse again, I'm going to plan the house a bit more carefully.

Day 49 - Sunday (Winter)
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Just because. This is the uppermost level of the tower where all activities that require lots of free space take place. Quite frankly, Agrimony is a little fustrating at the moment. Her only big wants involve her children going to college, and since there isn't a college anymore, it isn't going to happen. Mouse and Saki are supposed to be keeping Agrimony from loosing her mind, but I think it may be slipping a bit anyway.

Work those buns Betony, because the only way for you to start yoga is to build some muscle first.

"Ooooh, my aching muscles...."

This doesn't even phase Agrimony. I wish Maxis could have found a better way to make pets and sims ghost-like. Seeing the underlying mesh of eyeballs and teeth is just creepy.

Of course, scare the Romance sim instead of the Knowledge sim, it figures.

And the Family sim. What about poor Agrimony? Too bad easels aren't around yet, that's a sure fire way to attract a ghost.

Two times, Three times in total. I missed a shot of the final encounter between Kim and Betony.

Summary
So let's see, this week Betony became a teen and Agrimony became an elder. Kim passed over to the other side right in the main room of the house, and Sake became an elder. Glen finally managed to top Athletic, making him perma-plat. Burdock spent most of his time either chatting up older women in the hopes of future liaisons when he's older, or flirting with Laura-the-Papergirl. There were plenty of sims turning blue from the cold, although nobody actually froze, and a lot of smustling, chores and skilling.

Mob Pay-Off: $14,840
Household Cash: $66,731

See you in a few days folks, I'm off to Knowlton now to deal with Eddie and April Belleosi. Shouldn't take as long as the last Knowlton entry though since they have two toddlers and a baby and therefore definitely won't be going on vacation.