The Day After Tomorrow Sim Style

The Ubrupt End

2008-08-04T11:05:00.002-05:00

Well folks, sad to say, this is the end. Back around the beginning of July I had a very bad thing happen. You see, I had been contemplating back-up strategies, and had decided to go with Carbonite. Unfortunately when I went to download and install it I discovered that my internet was down (again). Two days (and still no internet) later, my H Drive, on which was stored my entire My Documents folder, crashed. I waited this long to tell you all about it because I was hoping to find a relatively cheap data recovery service. I did find one, but I'm looking at a minimum bill of $1000, which means I've put the hard drive aside for the moment and will have it restored after the next 4 VERY expensive months. I'm a mother of three, so let's see, school, halloween, halloween parties (2 because my two youngest can't go to the scary one I hold for the older kids), thanksgiving, christmas shopping, christmas parties... Do I really need to say more?

Week 20

2008-01-27T11:52:00.000-05:00

The Leafs danced their way through last week. Seriously, any free time they had they were either freestyle dancing, smustling or slap dancing. Cassia continued to train Hazel until she was show dog worthy. There were a lot of birthdays again this week, Dill grew up on Tuesday, Ben grew old on Wednesday, Daisy grew up on Saturday, and Cassia is due to grow old on Monday. Dittany left for college with $9000 in scholarships on Wednesday, and Dill followed on Friday with $7250.

Day 135 - Monday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Welcome Home Dittany!
Dittany Leaf
Aspiration: Fortune
LTW: Own 5 Top-Level Businesses
Neat-3, Outgoing-4, Active-10, Playful-10, Nice-7
Sagittarius
See, your clothes aren't too horrible.

No job in Show Business for Dittany today, so she gets to skate or whatever else her little simmy heart desires. Which means of course, she'll probably go back to writing novels.

Why does this scenario sound so familiar? lol

Since Dittany couldn't find a job in Show Business, she decided that at least Hazel could get in. It's much easier for pets, their jobs are always available.

It's so rare that anybody bothers using the indoor pool (other than guests) that it's always photo worthy! Plus, the new water graphics/reflections are just awesome!

"My sparkle spin feels achy!"

Cassia Leaf
Aspiration: Knowledge
LTW: Become Space Pirate
Neat-4, Outgoing-8, Active-4, Playful-7, Nice-6
Libra

Cassia apparently does not believe in growing old gracefully, instead she's chosen to dye her hair and try to deny it.

Day 136 - Tuesday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hooray! Show Business here we come!

"I'm getting out of this madhouse for a few hours, see ya later suckers!"

Bloody Dittany, she's always breaking the electronics!

Ok, well, at least it was just a fine.

Cool, so are you the understudy to White Fang?

Wow, you're good! One day of work and you're an Icon!!!

Once a sim from the house rises to superstar, they unleash their show “Stylish eye for the zombie guy” on the world. The Sims of the region, seeing radiated zombies shambling around looking 10 times better than them, gain a renewed interest in appearances. The profits from the show are used to bring fresh supplies of cosmetics, hair care products and stylish clothing to the region. “Fallout wear” becomes a new trend across the country. Once Sims have bought their new threads and gotten all gussied up, they are once again confident enough to organize social gatherings and show off their new looks. Even some members of the social elite decide to return. All show business restrictions are lifted.

-Sims may use all interactions on mirrors
-Sims may purchase or use anything from the “Wardrobe” tab.
-Sims may purchase perfume or the Love Potion 8.5
-Sims may throw parties of any kind.
-Sims may have “Outings”, casual or scored.
-Sims may go on scored dates.
-Sims may purchase or use the stylist’s makeover chair.
-The Diva and Mr. Big NPCs may be moved into the house for any reason.
-The Show Business career reward object may be used by all Sims.

"Come on Sis! I'll give you a free makeover, and then you can go on a date!"

"I can't go on a date looking like this!"
"Err, oops, hang on, I'll try again..."

"Oh my gosh! I am like so hot!"
(Valley girl much?)

"Your turn Mom!"

Much better!

"I'm gonna have new clothes!"

"My first date! I'm so excited!"
You might want to watch your expression, you look rather like a large, hungry predator.

"mbleziep mesilelk!"
What was that?
"My first Kiss!"
Well, next time, try not to talk with your mouth full!

A little souvenir of your first date, my dear.

After having made over her entire family, Dittany decided she needed a look that suited her better too. She decided on something that was somewhere between rock 'n roll and business. You see, she has plans.

Isn't this place a bit... dark?
"That's the idea. Now be quiet, I have hunting to do."
Hunting, ok, I probably don't want to know.

All right, now that's impressive! First time you've ever been in it and you're a master!
I've decided to give my sims a bit of a break about downtown. Stuff that they can't have at home I allow here so it provides no benefit. I'm refering to the dj booth and the sphere. Can't skill build on a community lot, which is the only reason they're currently banned at home. And as I've said before, I'm too lazy to go around stripping all the greenery and decor.

"Barkeep! Another drink please, the lush next to me just stole mine."

Whatever or whoever Dittany was hunting for, she didn't find and home she went after having done all the things that sims absolutely must do when they're downtown, except dine out, because I just don't have the patience for it.

Daisy spun up a want to max her creativity, and who am I to deny her?

Day 137 - Wednesday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Don't you two ever stop? I swear, when I get freetime if you two are still alive (doubtful, but it could happen) you'll both have a secondary aspiration of Romance, just so all this kissy face will do some good.

Wow! There are a lot of wolves here tonight!

"Thanks Auntie Renee, I really need the practice!"

"Revenge is SOOO sweet!"

"I don't care how many times you have to keep trying, you fix it!"

A lot of my sims seem to have issues with flashing their badges for photos, but this is almost as good.

Day 138 - Thursday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ah hah! Now I know what you were hunting, but why?

Excuse me, aren't you supposed to be playing pool? BTW, remind me to have your sister redo your makeup tomorrow. I'm awful at makeup for the darkest skin tone, and it shows. Or rather, not tomorrow, but later today when you get back from school.

Another day, another free makeover, at least she's building up her skill.

"Arghh!!! You!!! You took away my 'We Love Don' face paint!"

Oh wow! I completely forgot that Hazel was still working her way up the career chain. It's just not as important as it was with the cats.

Day 139 - Friday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You're certainly bringing out the big guns.

Frammit Agrimony! You couldn't have done that BEFORE she asked him on a date?

Agrimony is in one of her moods tonight.

Ok, so Dittany managed to just barely get a Dream Date out of the Count, just as the sun was rising. After a quick nap, she started greeting people and giving free makeovers. That's it, that's all that happened all day.

Congratulations Hazel! We expect no less from such an intelligent well trained wolf!

Yeah, I can't believe you earned a Silver badge for that makeover either. Now fix it.

Day 140 - Saturday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dittany's been inviting the Count over every night and buttering him up, looks like all her hard work finally paid off. I think having her sleep in a coffin during her teen years kinda twisted her.

"Yes my love, bite me!"

"I can feel new power coursing through my veins, changing me..."

"BLEH!!! Now I shall have all the time I need to build my empire!"

Saturday is Date Day! Daisy will be leaving for college soon, but we may as well take care of a few more of those nasty dates first!

Isn't it a bit cruel to ask a guy to go steady with you when you know that you're leaving for college soon?

Hazel likes to spend her days off befriending strays and wolves alike. It's awful cute!

"My first night as a vampire, it feels so good to not be concerned with fulfilling pointless bodily needs."

Ben you senile old fool! This is what I get for allowing you to choose your own dinner!

Day 141 - Sunday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
All of those dates, she's had seven so far, ensure that Daisy is always in a good mood for studying, so I've put her to maximizing the rest of her skills. She managed Cooking, Mechanical, Cleaning and Charisma by 7 am, since she was fully recharged from all that dating.

Every time I turn around Cassia is busy playing with a wolf. She seems to prefer them to the strays.

"This lifestyle certainly ensures that I have much more time to spend on novels, even if I do have to hide myself away during the day."

Sometimes I wonder about sims, when I was Daisy's age I never would have made out in front of my mother. Good thing Cassia's distracted by her phone call.

That's plenty of scholarship money for you my dear!

The college swarm is almost as bad as the birthday swarm, lol.

Summary: This week Dittany returned from college. She and Hazel both topped Show Business, thus lifting the Show Business restrictions. Hooray, makeovers and dates! Cassia became an elder who refused to grow old gracefully, but Dittany took care of that. In fact Dittany did a lot of makeovers this week, working her way up to a Silver Badge. She also became rather obsessed with tracking down a certain individual which eventually led to her becoming a vampire, giving her plenty of time to build her business empire. Daisy was probably the person the most thrilled about Show Business being lifted. She managed to get in 9 dates this week before heading off to join Dill at college. Cassia spent the week befriending every wolf she met, but she still hasn't achieved her desire to become a werewolf. Benjamin didn't really do anything, but he always has been a rather boring sim. The only interesting thing about him is that whenever I leave him and Cassia unattended I find them making out in some out of the way corner of the house.

Mob Payout:$3,000

Around Waknuk This Week

The newspaper did a fairly decent job of reporting this week. The only additions I have to make are that there were a lot more promotions than were reported, and that Daffodil is a Knowledge sim. Mostly because, even as a child she constantly had wants to skill build or do her homework, where the normal sim child is more concerned with befriending everyone they meet. Also, Renee's LTW was to Reach Her Golden Anniversary.

Dittany and Dill Do College

2008-01-25T22:00:00.000-05:00

Welcome to Fiesta Tech Generation D

Freshman Year
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dittany Leaf
Aspiration: Fortune
LTW: Own 5 Top-Level Businesses
Neat-3, Outgoing-4, Active-10, Playful-10, Nice-7
Sagittarius

The first to arrive was Dittany.
"Excuse me?"
Yes?
"Where's the dorm, or a house, or anything?"

Well, you see, after rereading the rules, I realized that I can't prebuild your house to get you a discount on building costs. Hold on a couple of minutes while I wave my magic wand.

"You're kidding, right? It's drywall, and I have practically no furniture. I don't even have a shower."
You've got the essentials, and you can earn some more money. Much as I hate heading downtown during college because your exams end up at odd hours of the day, I think you'll need to either go DJ or hustle some pool. Of course, you could stay home and write a novel, but that takes quite awhile to pay off.

"Drama? But I want to unlock Business!"

Too bad, I've decided since Daisy's LTW is the easiest to fulfill, she's the heir, and you need to unlock Show Business so she can get some of those dates done in college. Hey, on the upside, when we do get Business unlocked, you can open a fashion salon.

I hope you're as good at pool as you think you are, because we just bet most of what's left of your money that you can beat this guy.

It doesn't inspire confidence that you look so shocked that you won, you know.

This is the only great thing about less than neat sims, they'll submit to sponge bathing much more quickly, of course, they lack the primp option which I'd prefer.

Now go work on a novel. That pool thing took forever, for a measely $150. Next time I'll have you work in the cafeteria or the coffee bar.

That's going to be the stinkiest, greenest snow angel ever.

"So Prof, I need to miss a few classes, so I can stay home and write a novel to earn some cash. I mean, you see the hovel I'm forced to live in?"

You must really be desperate for good marks to give this loser your first kiss, even if you do have a two bolt attraction. Only problem is, her grades aren't going up.

Darn it! I forgot about Drama teachers. At least it's not too late to switch her to Economics.

Aww sweetie, I'm sorry, it's all my fault.

Even after paying the mob their $600 for the semester, Dittany had enough money left over for a cheap shower. Yay!

"Yeah, yay, now get out and let me enjoy it."

Dittany apparently has a thing for Professors, but that can work in our favor.

One good thing about cheerleaders and mascots, they always have homework that Dittany can tutor them with.

Shouldn't the teacher be friends with the mascot?

I guess we should be grateful. After all, the Leafs haven't been robbed for four generations, their luck was bound to run out eventually.

Sophomore Year
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It took until the beginning of sophomore year, but she finally did it. Maybe I'll get her a proper fridge and a microwave.

"You know, I really need a good grade this term sir..."

"There's a crazy man here saying I'm fat! I'm so not FAT!!"

Junior Year / Freshman Year
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dill Leaf
Aspiration: Family
LTW: Raise 20 Puppies or Kittens
Neat-3, Outgoing-4, Active-10, Playful-10, Nice-7
Sagittarius

So this is when Dill shows up and moves into the hovel. Luckily he brought all of his scholarship money with him!

Biology for Dill, he's going to lift Natural Science before moving out somewhere to breed boxers.

The kids invite over at least one friend a day to keep relationships up. As you can see, there have been improvements to the hovel. In fact there's even paint and a new bedroom upstairs for Dill.

Renee was invited over, and she decided to teach the kids how to 'Chest Pound'.

Oh oh, looks like the coach caught Dill too. It really seems like he shows up rather randomly.

Dill is slightly less sleazy than Dittany. He still befriends his teachers, but at least he doesn't sleep with them.

Poor Dittany, even sleazy college students eventually must do a little homework.

How sweet, you invited your clone for a visit!

Sophomore Year / Senior Year
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please don't fry yourself.

Oh wow! I can't believe it, you two are doing your homework. What happened, the teachers caught on to you?

I really wish you two would stick with breaking the plumbing, at least that can't electrocute you.

Most of this year was spent with Dill learning the skills he'll need to make it quickly to Ecological Guru, while Dittany suddenly expressed an interest in spending time with Prof. Pong without the hidden agenda.

"I better not end up with ugly clothes!"

The folks reading this won't find out till next time, and your going to make sure that you can buy nice ones anyway.

Despite Pinstar's harsh mob fees for college students, Dill and Dittany managed to accumulate $7,865 and a lot of home renovations. It's probably a good thing that Dittany wasn't in charge of the decor though, because all she wanted was expensive paintings and band instruments.

Week 19

2008-01-22T22:38:00.000-05:00

Whew! Last week was a busy one. Let's see, Daisy went from baby to toddler to child, Dill became a child, and Dittany became a Fortune teen. Cassia decided to adopt a wolf named Hazel, and nobody except me thought she was crazy. Dittany and Dill both got all the non-hidden skills they need to have full scholarships, and Daisy only has cleaning left to work on. Dittany topped her teen career and is currently working on earning dance and pool scholarships. Who will be the heir is still up for grabs. Don't forget to keep voting on aspirations for Dill and Daisy. I think I'll decide in college who will be heir. I've had one positive comment about the "Around Waknuk" segment, so I'm considering keeping it in, at least for now, but given that I'll have another two extras in the future, it'll mean even longer between updates.

Day 128 - Monday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The morning ritual of slap dancing had returned. Oh well, it's an easy aspiration recharge.

You want the money, keep practicing.

"Bad Hazel! Bad Wolf! Go pee on the mailbox like all the other dogs/wolves!"

It's almost noon, but Cassia finally gets to sit down and enjoy a cup of coffee. She spent the morning doing repairs and cleaning the house. Poor woman! Maybe I'll let you get another job once Dill grows up. Dittany's too busy earning money to take care of the children if your work day doesn't end soon enough.

Call of the wild.
Keep it up, maybe the Master of the Pack will show up tonight.

For now, Cassia has a wolf that needs training.

Isn't it a bit rude to bring someone home from school with you when you have to leave for work?

I'm beginning to see a trend here.

Spending time with your clone?
"She needs to have fun, and I need to socialize, got a problem with that?"

No, just commenting. I wanted to make the division between the two sides of the room obvious, think I succeed?

Err, Dill, you do realize that I'm blogging this, right?

Dill always seems to finish his homework much faster than Daisy. Maybe I should have Cassia help her with her homework again tomorrow.

For some reason, Ben is irresistibly drawn to Dittany's coffin-bed. Left unsupervised, he heads for it every night.

Day 129 - Tuesday (Winter)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cassia's decided to switch to the night shift, sleeping while her family is at work and school. That way she'll be awake if Bailey (Master of the Pack) shows up again.

Don't worry Hazel, she's not really dead, now you try.

"Hazel, you ham! You could give Scooby-Doo a run for his money!"

By jove, I think she's got it!

"Now that you've mastered that, let's work on 'Roll Over'."
I have every intention of making Hazel the best trained wolf ever.

Yes, I know it's embarrassing, but I wanted everyone to see what a well behaved wolf you're becoming.

Cassia, you've got talented daughters! I'm pretty sure that Daisy wants to tell you she got her first A+, and if that move that Dittany is pulling is any indication, she might be ready to get her dance scholarship. (Oops, not quite yet)

"Ha ha! You're so wrong, you can't read the future with a magic ball, if you saw the future that would change the future, so you could never really see the future, because it's always changing."

One of the great sci-fi debates!

"Mom, my legs are getting sore, how much longer do we need to dance for?"

"I'm sure you're getting there honey, that move last time was really impressive, we'll just dance till it's time for Dill's birthday, alright?"
"I'll try..."

"Excuse me Mam, but is his but supposed to sparkle like that?"
"Shh, it's not polite to mention it."

Dill Leaf
Aspiration: Family
LTW: Raise 20 Puppies or Kittens
Neat-3, Outgoing-4, Active-10, Playful-10, Nice-7
Sagittarius

Why me? Do the Maxis gods hate me so? Why can't any of them have a nice easy life time want?
(The vote went 2 Family, 1 Fortune, 1 Pleasure)

"I don't precisely understand what it is you want me to do, but I'll try."

"What exactly am I supposed to do with the stick thingy?"
"Don't worry little brother, it's really easy" *snickers, sucker!*

Day 130 - Wednesday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm all for family togetherness, but I think you guys are taking it a bit far.

Way to go Dittany! Now we just have to raise your aspiration a bit, and you're off to college!

Time to work on your hidden skills Dill. By the way, why couldn't you bring a girl home?

Sparkle Twirl, in the piddle puddle no less.

Benjamin Long-Leaf
Aspiration: Knowledge
LTW: Become Game Designer
Neat-2, Outgoing-3, Active-9, Playful-7, Nice-4
Sagittarius

Off to college with you wench! You're too difficult to keep happy without paintings and statues.

Dill's turn to head downtown for a phone and look for a potential girlfriend. I realise that the Corner Shoppes don't meet the current restrictions. I just don't let him interact with anything that breaks the rules, because I'm too lazy to strip them bare.

Unfortunately not a single teenager showed up, and I forgot to caffeinate Dill before sending him out on search. Oh well, maybe tomorrow.

"Good Girl Hazel!"
Learning to 'Speak'

It's about bloody time you paid attention to your children.

Day 131 - Thursday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I can't believe it, Cassia's actually joining in on the Slap Dancing!

That's right Cassia, introduce him to the only teenage girl the family knows. Really, she's quite pretty, although I'm not sure what Dill will think.

What a clever girl! That leaves only one trick for you!

"Storf, Storf..." (Sim to English translation: "Stay, Stay...")
Hazel is a genius! She now knows all of the available tricks!

Day 132 - Friday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What do you do if you're an elder who refuses to sleep the night through? Go skating at 2 am of course!

Then you take the family wolf for a walk because the Plumbbob Deity is bored with watching you do nothing.

Well, nothing much happened during the day, but after school I sent Dill back downtown looking for that special someone. While he waited for some teenage girls to show up he wanted to build a snowman. Sims are strange creatures.

Dill! Quick! It's a girl, leave the stupid snowman and go talk to her, quick before she gets away!

And we have a winner! She's a bit heavy on the makeup, but they have a two bolt chemistry, which is good enough for me! Unfortunately, he refused to spin up any wants about her which was the whole point in the first place, so back home he goes to deal with his family based wants, then we can invite her over.

Daisy! That's a puddle of wolf pee! Go play with your little friend instead.

Goody! He's finally spinning up wants about her.

For a Family sim, this kid sure moves fast!

Really fast!

Bye-bye Dill, we'll see you in college soon.

Day 133 - Saturday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I love this oven, it's much faster than waiting for an adult to make breakfast!

Saturday equals no school and no work. That means its time for Daisy to earn the last cleaning skill she needs for full scholarships, and Cassia and Ben can keep their relationships up.

Of course, there's always time for dancing in this house!

And hot chocolate too, now that I found a hack that fixes whatever it was that got messed up with Bon Voyage. I swear, EA would find it money well spent to add some of the hackers/modders to their payroll.

You'd actually have even more best friends than that if you called some of your other friends too.

Sparkle Twirl time!

Daisy Leaf
Aspiration: Pleasure
LTW: Have 50 Dream Dates
Neat-3, Outgoing-4, Active-10, Playful-10, Nice-7
Sagittarius

At least hers is something I've done countless times. Let's see, that means I'll be unlocking Show Business, Music, Natural Science, and Business with Generation 4(D). The vote was a straight forward 2 for Pleasure.

Back to the Corner Shoppes for a cellphone and potential boyfriends! (I really must start remembering that there's a better chance of teens being there if I send them during the day)

Good lord, she's just like her sister, embarrassed that she has to dance with her father.

Day 134 - Sunday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rapping at the Corners!

This is Kennedy, Daisy met him when she was out Freestyling.

"Thank you Plumbbob Deity!! This chick is wild!"

I've finally come up with something for Ben to do for me at night. If there's snow, he builds my snowman army. If not he digs for things the family can gift away.

Summary: The Leafs danced their way through this week. Seriously, any free time they had they were either freestyle dancing, smustling or slap dancing. Cassia continued to train Hazel until she was show dog worthy. There were a lot of birthdays again this week, Dill grew up on Tuesday, Ben grew old on Wednesday, Daisy grew up on Saturday, and Cassia is due to grow old on Monday. Dittany left for college with $9000 in scholarships on Wednesday, and Dill followed on Friday with $7250.

Mob Payout: $2,850

Around Waknuk This Week

As I said at the end of last week, all of the Extras living together seemed to be causing a continious string of glitches, so the families have divided up. It means a bit of extra game play on my part, but the I can also fast forward more. I don't want to start too many houses or I'll have to start an extra blog just for the extras. That or have two or three slideshows/newspapers at the end of each week. The Extras are doing well and love their new homes, the newspaper says so! There are 25 slides this week, in case it doesn't load all of them right away for you.

Week 18

2008-01-20T16:43:00.000-05:00

Last week was plagued by game crashes, but we survived it in the end. I've become religious about saving 4 or 5 times per day and always after a major event. As for the Leafs, well it was mainly a family time week. Dittany grew up into a not too ugly child, although I hate her hair and upper lip. Cassia gave birth to Dill and Daisy. The family spent a lot of time together and relationships were at an all time high. On the more job/apocalypse oriented side of things, Camphor finally topped Politics and moved out. As soon as he was gone the lot had some major renovations. Not only do the Leafs have a much bigger house, they also got a swimming pool and a skating rink. Benjamin topped Gamer, so I require nothing more of him now than to satisfy his children's wants. Agrimony made a huge fuss about the fact that her bed isn't on this lot, but even if it hadn't automatically been sold when the family moved, it's too big for anyone to move.

Day 121 - Monday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Woohoo! My daughter's a genius!"

Poor Cassia is having a hard time keeping up with the house, a child, a toddler, and a baby. I know exactly how she feels.

I guess we'll just have to help her out by having Dill and Daisy grow up a day early.

Daisy Leaf
Neat-3, Outgoing-4, Active-10, Playful-10, Nice-7
Sagittarius

Yes folks, we have three clones. Hopefully in the future this won't happen. I finally got sick of this and went and checked out the TSR forums. Found the supposed cure to First Born Syndrome, but I guess you have to do it before the kid is born.

"Oh My Plumbbob! He got bigger!"

Yep, now he has to go hop in the shower so we can see his normal clothes.

Dill Leaf
Neat-3, Outgoing-4, Active-10, Playful-10, Nice-7
Sagittarius

I really wish potty training was this easy.

Day 122 - Tuesday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Snow Day!!!"

Yes, that looks about right for a snow day. At least, that's what it looks like at my house, only at my house the boys are fighting and yelling going on too.

These are definitely Benjamin's kids, they leave books scattered everywhere.

Oh my.... The books are breeding...

I never notice it before, but he's got Ben's haircut, how cute is that? The funny thing is, I was worried they'd get Ben's nose. Instead, they all have almost flat noses and Benjamin's deformed lack of upper lip.

"Don't yell at me Nery! It's not my fault! It took this long for the Plumbbob Diety to think of checking her hacks and getting updates for all of them, at least now I can call you!"

(Most of my hacks are useful things to fix EA messes)

Day 123 - Wednesday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Burdock! This is the niece you love, the one you used to take care of when her parents were too busy or too tired, remember?

"So the ghost got you too kiddo, huh?"

Poor Cassia always seems to end up having to do everything. Benjamin never spins up wants about his kids, and they rarely spin up wants about him.

These two match just a little two well, I mean, they have the exact same personality, they look like twins, and they even color coordinate their clothes. It's a bit scary.

Day 124 - Thursday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Knowledge sims, sheesh, you'd think she got the A+.

Sparkle Stomp time!

Dittany Leaf
Aspiration: Fortune
LTW: Own 5 Top-Level Businesses
Neat-3, Outgoing-4, Active-10, Playful-10, Nice-7
Sagittarius

Great, just great, I was going to have her lift Music, but I guess she better lift Business. I've never even had ONE top-level business, let alone five, I guess it's time to learn. At least her clothes aren't too horrid. Thanks to the two people who voted, I'm not being sarcastic, I hate choosing aspirations. I kinda wish it would decide for you based on personality and interests. I'd use the dice, but I always seem to roll Romance.

Being a Fortune sim, of course she wants a job. I specifically chose a job that I don't care if she gets fired from. After all, it's only a teen job.

Day 125 - Friday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This thing is Deity sent to Fortune sims everywhere. Especially ones stuck without money trees, besides, it's less draining than tending to money trees.

"Can I say it?"
I suppose, go ahead.
"Snow Day Again!"

Great, that gives plenty of time for skilling, and Dittany won't have bottomed out needs before her first day of work!

"Come on Caraway, the kids have a snow day, bring your family over so they can meet Daisy."

You'd never know that Dill is the nice one.

Congratulations Dittany! One more to go!

The family is swarming, you know what that means...

Daisy Leaf
Neat-3, Outgoing-4, Active-10, Playful-10, Nice-7
Sagittarius

It's a good thing your sister became a teen yesterday, because the ONLY difference between the two of you is your skirt.

"Heh heh heh, he falls for it every time!"

I guess so, since you did it not two minutes ago.

Day 126 - Saturday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Even with her children old enough to be more independant, Cassia still has to do everything around this house. Asking Ben to do anything is like asking most husbands, he moans and groans until Cassia does it.

"Nice wolf! Your eyes are very strange..."

"All the better to bespell you my dear."

"Where'd it go? I know it was back there a minute ago."

Lol, the faces they make when they're learning to Slap Dance are almost as good as the smustle faces!

"I heard Uncle Camphor is an astronaut and he looks really funny when he goes to work."

"You should have seen your father in that ridiculous get-up!"

A little morning hen party. Come on, you know it happens all the time. Not at my house mind you, I'm the only female living with four males. Even when we had pets they were male, I'm being slowly poisoned by testosterone.

Cassia's got all of her skills at level eight or higher, so I thought she deserved a trip downtown.

"Silly old people, don't they know that arcades are for kids?"

"I want HIM!!!"

Can't say I blame you, he is rather cute.

In the end, she decided Randy was hotter though.

"So, like, maybe I could call you when I get back from work?"

Now go buy a cellphone so you're not hogging the family line.

I haven't been paying attention to Cassia and Ben today, so I went looking for them. I found them hiding out on the third floor, they were rather busy though, so I decided to leave well enough alone.

The little ones were busy with the studying of course. Really, there's only so much 'Play with Mom' 'Play with Dad' I can take.

Way to go Dittany!

"Why are you making me dance with my father?"
Because I'm trying to see if we can get you a dance scholarship.
"Money? Why didn't you say so!"

"And I'm shooting pool because....?"
Two words, scholarship and hustling. Besides, you got sick of dancing with Ben.

Day 127 - Sunday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Smustle Faces!
Thought I forgot, didn't you?

I guess dancing with your semi-cool mom is better, huh?

Congratulations Dill, you've finished building all necessary non-hidden skills for full scholarships. You've got three days to enjoy being a kid, go to it!

OH MY... Cassia! That's a wolf!
"I know, isn't it awesome!"

Hazel
Genius, Hyper, Independent, Aggressive
Aries

Do you learn faster if you play in your underwear?
"I don't know, but I thought I'd try it out."

This is what you're going to do with your freedom?
"Yes."
But-
"Yes."

"You're not so scary, are you Hazel?"

Dance Party in the Kitchen!

This is the only problem with wolves. They love garbage.

"Hold still so I can wash you!"

I know we should discourage this type of thing, but it's so adorable. I still don't get why Maxis/EA didn't code it so that dogs sleep at the end of the bed. There should be room for one big dog and two sims, or two sims and two small dogs/cats.

Summary: Whew! That was a busy week. Let's see, Daisy went from baby to toddler to child, Dill became a child, and Dittany became a Fortune teen. Cassia decided to adopt a wolf named Hazel, and nobody except me thought she was crazy. Dittany and Dill both got all the non-hidden skills they need to have full scholarships, and Daisy only has cleaning left to work on. Dittany topped her teen career and is currently working on earning dance and pool scholarships. Who will be the heir is still up for grabs. Don't forget to keep voting on aspirations for Dill and Daisy. I think I'll decide in college who will be heir. I'm considering giving up on updates about the extras, let me know if you guys want to keep hearing about them or not.

Mob Payout: $2,700
Household Cash: $404,986

Around Waknuk This Week

The extras started out having a good week, but half way through the week we had a couple of major glitches that made me decide to start the family on a lot I've made next Monday, so they only got played till Thursday morning this week. I think I'll also be breaking up the households into two smaller houses. I'm really not sure if I want to keep playing them on a regular bases. It might be kinda fun to have Great-Great-Great Uncle Camphor wandering around.

Week 17

2008-01-18T07:48:00.000-05:00

Whew! I just spent most of the morning cleaning up and fixing Waknuk. Three hours, seriously. I had to dezombify the hordes since the Military had cleaned up the streets, although it appears that they've formed a 'We Love Don' cult. Then I decided to brand all the Blue Water residents (I never play them, so sometimes I forget which ones they are). After that, I had to go fix some slight problems at the Waknuk Cemetery and Apocalypse Now. Plus, deleting houses that were no longer inhabited. It took forever, but it should make game play a bit easier! On with the story!

Last week Camphor and Cassia returned from college. Cassia and Benjamin were anxious to get the wedding over with, so they got married before Ben left for work. Then he got demoted and they got to work on making their first daughter, Dittany. Caraway managed to finally top Science and promptly went to live with Betony and Joe. Dittany quickly grew into a mostly cute toddler who learnt all her skills quickly, thanks to Great-Uncle Burdock. Cassia managed to top both Law and Education this week, thus lifting her designated restriction and achieving her LTW. Benjamin and Camphor managed to find jobs in Gamer and Politics, but neither has reached the top yet.

Day 114 - Monday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now that Cassia is permaplat, she can meditate through this pregnancy whenever one of the guys is around to take care of Dittany.

Come on Camphor, one more promotion and you can move out and get to work on becoming a General!

Day 115 - Tuesday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

These two are just so sickly sweet, you'd never believe it was an arranged marriage.

Aww, Knowledge sims are great parents when they've already maxed all their skills.

Ah, a member of the 'We Love Don' club. You shall know them because they all wear Don shirts and have skeletal hands painted on their faces. I thought the zombie paint was a little bit of overkill.

Congratulations Benjamin! At least you got promoted unlike certain sims we could mention. *cough*Camphor*cough*

Day 116 - Wednesday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Mommy has Saturn rings!"

My first ever toddler to maximize a skill and I don't even get a floating doohickey?

Story time. I wonder if anybody has ever proven or disproved the theory that if you read to toddlers they'll skill faster when they're older.

Snazzy outfit Ben! Looks a lot better on you than it did on Joe!

"Help! I'm being abducted by aliens!"

No your not, just hold on two seconds...

Hooray! Hoorah! Hip Hip Hooray!

Way to go Camphor, I knew you could do it eventually, now get your butt out of here. I'll see you over at the other house when I'm done here.

"Once a great political leader emerges from the family, they take over the office of the Mayor. Political corruption is cleaned up. Building supplies from other parts of the country are shipped in and distributed to those who need it. The corrupt ‘housing permit’ laws are repealed. The prestige and notoriety gained by the family allows them to sway the actions others, who see everybody from the family as a leader. The Political restrictions are lifted."

-Sims’ houses may occupy any larger than an 8X8 area, the rest of the lot may be used.
-You may place any items outside of the 8X8 area and modify tiles outside of it.
-Sims may perform influence actions.
-Sims may use the Teleprompter podium.

Miss Dittany Leaf
Neat-3, Outgoing-4, Active-10, Playful-10, Nice-7
Sagittarius

So as soon as Camphor got his promotion I got to building. Don't compliment me, because it's not my house. I was going to build the Legacina Hacienda, but I didn't have enough space without being able to tear down the Hut. This house happens to be one of the best designed Legacy houses I've ever seen. It's called Soup 4 by Ms Barrows and you can find it at TSR. Be grateful I didn't design it. It took me almost three hours just to build it and decorate it, although part of that is that it was giving me trouble over the leveling tool for the basement. If I designed it, it would probably take a week. Besides, my building skills lay more in the starter (<$20,000) direction.

So, is your new kitchen spacious enough for the two of you?

"Look at all the empty counters!"

Truth, I'm not actually sure which rooms Ms Barrows used for what, I kinda just use whichever ones I want for whatever I want. I also added a basement to it, since originally it was a ground level house, which in turn shrinks the living room a bit for extra staircases.

This thing is a hack from MTS or MATY. It costs aspirations points to buy one, but since it's not a Maxis aspiration reward we're not going to count that part. What it does is makes sims put the hat back on it when they're done so that the hats aren't constantly cluttering counters. It also ensures that you don't have a bazillion dead hats around. Every time a sim replaces the hat it is recharged and the sim is charged aspiration points, so basically it just saves me from the hassle of doing it without giving me an unfair advantage over others. I figured it show up in pictures at some point so I might as well get the explanation out of the way.

Like all sim children, the second Dittany became a child, she wanted to make a friend. Good thing her and Aren are almost there.

First Floor and Second Floor.

The basement is a surprise and the third floor isn't being used yet.

Ok, I couldn't resist, here's the suprise, an indoor swimming pool!

Thank the PTBs, because they keep spinning up wants to go swimming, in the middle of winter no less. Well, now they can!

I think Dittany may be one of those lucky children who gets stuck on Smart Milk. Even with the bookcase I don't think I've ever seen someone learn this fast. In about an hour she's earned 5 body skill points. By midnight she'd earned 8, and was finally tired enough to send off to bed.

Day 117 - Thursday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Why do you keep doing this to me?"
You know how you're always talking about going on vacation, maybe visiting the middle east?
"Yes...."

That's why. More babies equals more restrictions we can lift. If you're lucky they'll do it before you become an elder.

Welcome Dill Leaf

You know, you look an awful lot like your sister...
There was a reason I had you marry the whitest guy I could find Cassia, that number 4 skin of yours is just too dark. I prefer the shades 1-3. At least for now he's got a decent looking mouth, and we now have two babies with Agrimony's eyes. Maybe that will get her to stop wailing about her bed.

"I have a son to carry on my name!"
Err, no you don't, remember, you took Cassia's name?
"oh..."

Such a cute Father/Daughter moment.

Seriously, I think Cassia really does feel this way about the slap dance. Except for when she was in college, she never spins up wants to do it.

You're kidding right? You live in a frozen wasteland where winter never ends and you decide to wear a raincoat?

"Now that the kid's gone, wanna play Hunt the Sock hot stuff?" (Thank you Dor!)

No way! You guys NEVER get pregnant on the first shot, I was just trying to boost Ben's aspiration and get at least one try out of the way. Fudge! I guess it's a good thing this house is so big. I guess the new baby can sleep in with his folks or something.

Of course, with the great timing of babies everywhere, be they flesh and blood or virtual, Dill chose that exact moment to soil himself. So much for afterglow.

Gosh, I wish I could be as ladylike as you are Cassia.

"Woohoo! Skating!"

As far as I can tell, this is perfectly legal. It's not part of a house, it's an object, and those huge pillars you see are supporting a roof! Suddenly I feel certain that I must have missed some of the rules because all of the sudden the challenge isn't so challenging. Hopefully that just means I'm doing a good job.

Now that you're all cheered up, it's homework time. Hurry up about it too, your mother's bladder might not last that long. For those of you who were paying attention when I should the layout of the house, yes, this bedroom has been rearranged, no I didn't cheat. The lot crashed right after Dittany's sister Daisy was born and the last time I'd saved was half-way through the building. I decided I'd rather her bed and desk were on this side of the room while I rebuilt.

Day 118 - Friday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Razem Frazem, grumble moan, it's a brand new shower, how could she break it in only two days?"

"Daddy! I can't remember the moves!"

"But you were doing so well yesterday sweetheart, here, watch me."

"Again? You want me to do this again? You've got to be kidding me!"

Birthday time for little Dill!

Dill Leaf
Neat-3, Outgoing-4, Active-10, Playful-10, Nice-7
Sagittarius
Poor kid got his father's strangely flat upper lip.

Benjamin gets to do the toddler skilling, he needs the aspiration boost. His level dropped down to green about 5 seconds after I had him put the hat on.

Day 119 - Saturday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cripes! Look at the size of the mouth on that kid!

Sucking your belly in that much cannot be good for the baby.

I can't remember how many best friends that makes for Camphor, but he must be getting close.

Meanwhile, Dilly gets to know some of his family. I'm not sure why Betony didn't come over, maybe she had work. Still talking about how crazy Agrimony has become, huh? Give the poor woman a break. She started this family and did a lot for this town, and managed to do it all with most of her dignity intact.

I love the bookcase!

(Body)

RRRRR, Renee, you are wasting my smart milk! I'm glad you'll be a good mom, but put that child back with his rabbit head right this instant!

I'm happy for you Benjamin, but wipe that superior look of your face.

Day 120 - Sunday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Creativity

"NEVER AGAIN!!!!"

"Aww, but Mommy, it's fun having little siblings!"

Welcome Daisy Leaf

(yes, the same name as the baby who was replaced by Dill when the game crashed)

Dittany at least is thrilled to have a little sister. Just wait, you say that now, but what happens when you have to share you bedroom and your toys.

Geez Agrimony! That's twice already tonight. The poor woman is being run ragged looking after a toddler and a baby, leave her be. She may enjoy it, but her motives are being shot!

Summary: This week was plagued by game crashes, but we survived it in the end. I've become religious about saving 4 or 5 times per day and always after a major event. As for the Leafs, well it was mainly a family time week. Dittany grew up into a not too ugly child, although I hate her hair and upper lip. Cassia gave birth to Dill and Daisy. The family spent a lot of time together and relationships were at an all time high. On the more job/apocalypse oriented side of things, Camphor finally topped Politics and moved out. As soon as he was gone the lot had some major renovations. Not only do the Leafs have a much bigger house, they also got a swimming pool and a skating rink. Benjamin topped Gamer, so I require nothing more of him now than to satisfy his children's wants. Agrimony made a huge fuss about the fact that her bed isn't on this lot, but even if it hadn't automatically been sold when the family moved, it's too big for anyone to move.

Mob Payout: $2,550
Household Cash: $380,954

Around Waknuk This Week

A few words before the slideshow. One, yes the Extras' new house doesn't quite follow all of the restrictions in place. I suck at making ponds, so I'm not deleting the one that's already here. I'm capable of making a split-level garage, but why go through the hassle? Besides, they're Extras, I can do whatever I want with them lol! One more thing, I've noticed that the slide show doesn't always play through to the end right away, there are twenty-one photos this time.

Week 16

2008-01-16T22:24:00.000-05:00

There was quite a bit of excitement in Waknuk last week. Betony rose steadily through the ranks of Law Enforcement until she became Captain Hero and Camphor topped Teen Politics. Immediately following that Betony invited Benjamin Long, the future spouse of Cassia, to move in. Ben immediately lifted Military, thus allowing Camphor and Cassia to depart for college, and Betony and Joe to return to the house where Betony's mother's grave resides. Caraway managed to make it all the way to Theorist, leaving only one more promotion to go. To celebrate he went and checked out the newly created Apocalypse Now community lot.

Geez Cassia, give me a chance to introduce you and Camphor as adults first, ok?

Cassia Leaf
Aspiration: Knowledge
LTW: Become Education Minister
Neat-4, Outgoing-8, Active-4, Playful-7, Nice-6
Libra

Camphor Leaf
Aspiration: Popularity
LTW: Become General
Neat-4, Outgoing-4, Active-9, Playful-7, Nice-1
Sagittarius

Day 107 - Monday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Oh my goodness! You mean you bought me a huge diamond even though you knew I had to say yes?"
"Just because you have to say yes doesn't make our love any less real, and you deserve the best my little dove!"
(Gag me! You two are going to make me diabetic)

As you may have noticed, Cassia and Benjamin aren't big on wasting time, or maybe that's just me!

Unfortunately, they had to wait to start working on the fourth generation since Benjamin had work.

Oops! My bad. You know, there is a positive to this....

"I know how to cheer you up baby..."

After Caraway's lack of attraction to Lilly, I've decided to reunite him with his high school sweetheart.

Meanwhile, Camphor's decided he's the luckiest sim in Waknuk, his chick likes to skinny dip!

It took three tries, but Benjamin was finally "up" to the job, lol.

Day 108 - Tuesday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cassia will now proceed to meditate her way through three days of pregnancy. At least, I think she will. I later realized that since she wasn't permaplat, this maybe wasn't the best course of action.

Three cheers for Caraway!!!

"Once a great scientist emerges from the family, they can restore the knowledge of known technologies so they may be produced in the area again, as well as repairing the power grid enough to use these gizmos and gadgets in the house. They also have a breakthrough in technology, inventing something that mirrors technology gained from the aliens. You may choose 1 type of aspiration reward object. Any sim may now buy and use that one type of aspiration reward, even if you haven’t lifted the “Alien Technology” restriction. Only the sim that lifts the Science Restriction may invent one aspiration reward. Other Sims reaching the top of the science career will not invent additional aspiration rewards."

-Sims may purchase or use anything from the electronics category.
-Personal electronics (cell phone, handheld game, MP3 player) may be bought.
-Sims may purchase robots, including Servos. Servos may be moved in or activated.
-Sims may purchase or use the “non-lethal” robot making bench (also have to lift the business restriction)
-Sims may purchase or use anything from the “Lights” category.
-Sims may purchase or use the trash compactor, electric guitar or bass.
-Sims may use the biotech station.
-You may use the 'spray' command on plants, trees and roaches
-You may call the exterminator (You also have to lift the business restriction)

Caraway invented the Thinking Cap

Yay! Lights, and easy job search and tvs and trash compactors and dishwashers, and lots of other goodies. Mostly, yay a computer!

The first thing Caraway did with the newly recovered technology was to escape the mad house of course! (Yeah, I used a cheat to change him into his Mad Scientist outfit, I thought you should all see him dressed that way at least once)

Benjamin and Camphor both looked for jobs but found none to either their liking or mine.

Unfortunately, the first job offered was Law (of course). Not wanting to take a chance, I had Cassia take it anyway. Here's hoping she gets promoted tomorrow or gives birth at a good time.

Benjamin was of course thrilled with the invention of the Thinking Cap!

That night the house shone bright with lights sending out a beacon of hope to all of Waknuk.

"PREGNANT!!! But you just had me start a new job!"
Yes, and if you do well you can get promoted to 'The Law' tomorrow and quit.

"I love living in this house! You guys have a Book First for Learning: A Bookshelf of Education and Thinking Caps!"

(Cooking)

Day 109 - Wednesday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Apparently being "grown-up" isn't going to stop the Slap Dancing. That's okay, because it's hilarious watching a pregnant sim do it. I love the fact that her outfit matches her eyes!

After three failed attempts were Cassia just froze in place when told to go, she's finally off to work!

Camphor, well, he's a Popularity sim, how do you think he spent the day?

Good Girl Cassia!

With the code of laws restored to the region, the foundation is once again set for other parts of society to be restored. The Law restrictions are lifted.

-Slacker may be lifted
-Politics may be lifted
-Law Enforcement may be lifted

Camphor carefully emptied out his inventory and headed down to Apocalypse Now. He had heard that they had a new device that allowed you to buy cell phones. He bought three, one for each of them! No more waiting in line to use the phone! This means only two other items in inventory for each of them, but it's worth it!

Day 110 - Thursday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cassia, I know pregnancy makes you lose 10% of your mind, (I should know, I'm down to 30%, my personal theory being that you regain when the kids move out, lol) but how can a sim with 10 cooking points possibly burn omelettes?

Cassia would still rather buy friendship, which is fine with me since it allows us to clean out the inventories and extra single tile objects!

How such a smart sim can wear such a stupid expression on his face, I'll never know.

(Charisma)

I can't for the life of me figure out what aspiration Aren is. He's either Family, Popularity or Knowledge. I'm leaning towards Family or Popularity, the only reason Knowledge is even in the mix is because Cassia constantly heart farts all over him. He's a cutie, and the hair style would be interesting. Hopefully one of the female heirs will find him interesting.

Day 111 - Friday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"A little help down here?"

Welcome Dittany Leaf

Yes! Politics! I am so sick of being stuck on a 8x8 piece of property!

Oops! My bad, I should have had Camphor start raising his logic as soon as Cassia topped Law, but I kinda forgot. Quick earn some Logic so you can get promoted later today! (4:07 am)

"Stupid Maxis! Why don't I get to wear a long black robe and a cool white wig?!"

Seriously he pulls this face constantly!

Hooray! Doing the right thing does pay off!

Camphor, I don't care if you are a Popularity sim, send that thing home right now!

Yes, I know it's shocking that you could manage to maximize any skills with the amount of time you spend on the phone. (Logic)

Currently our preferred method of gaining fun, at least till we have all three maps.

Way to go Ben! Knowing Benjamin, he'll refuse to think about the fact that he just maxed all seven skills any time I'm looking at him, so now you know.

Day 112 - Saturday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Good! If Benjamin can top Gamer than he can stay home with any rugrats that he and Cassia produce.

Sorry Ben, I know you hate this part.

You two are just proving that Knowledge sims are secretly Romance sims you know.

Happy Birthday dear Dittany....

Dittany Leaf
Neat-3, Outgoing-4, Active-10, Playful-10, Nice-7
Sagittarius

I've decided that since I'm allowed to choose aspirations again, I'm going to let you guys decide. Oh, I'm a bit confused about Adventure, did Burdock steal only one thing of Smart Milk, or did he steal the plans? From some of the other Seasons Apocalypses I've read I think he stole the plans, but confirmation would be nice. I did try searching through the forums, but I gave up after five pages of never having any one say for certain.

Good going Benjamin. It's not half as exciting as when you're working towards improving the world around you, but still, it'll improve your life. By the way, while you were gone your daughter became a toddler. Luckily for her she looks mostly like her mother, except she got your hair color (fine) and your mouth (arg).

She actually is rather cute except for the mouth.

"Let's get this baby train rolling Ben, I want to be young enough to enjoy my kids!"

Day 113 - Sunday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I guess it's a good thing that the baby train didn't get rolling.

Betony works this morning, which puts Benjamin on baby duty since he doesn't work until Tuesday. Be grateful bub, this means no more diapers. (At least for now *grin*)

Cassia did manage to find some time to spend with her daughter before work though.

Apparently Camphor's been talking to Cassia.

Aren is Best Friend #27 for Camphor, we're getting there...

Good girl Dittany. I want Aren in the family for good genes. Abhijeet I haven't decided about, except for the fact that every Knowledge sim we've ever had in this family wants him. Blue hair would be different, although I imagine it's dyed.

Congratulations!!! You realize that this just frees you up to be a baby factory, right?

Once more with feeling!!

(it actually took 4 more tries for the two of them to get pregnant)

Hey! What in the world are you teaching MY toddler?!?

Summary: This week Camphor and Cassia returned from college. Cassia and Benjamin were anxious to get the wedding over with, so they got married before Ben left for work. Then he got demoted and they got to work on making their first daughter, Dittany. Caraway managed to finally top Science and promptly went to live with Betony and Joe. Dittany quickly grew into a mostly cute toddler who learnt all her skills quickly, thanks to Great-Uncle Burdock. Cassia managed to top both Law and Education this week, thus lifting her designated restriction and achieving her LTW. Benjamin and Camphor managed to find jobs in Gamer and Politics, but neither has reached the top yet.

Mob Payout: $2,400
Household Cash: $480,167

And now, I proudly, but lazily, present the first ever showing of Around Waknuk. In other words you get to see what Betony, Joe, and Caraway have been up to.

Camphor & Cassia do College

2008-01-14T21:30:00.000-05:00

Welcome to La Fiesta Tech!

And here are the first sims to go to college since the nuclear "incident"...

Cassia Leaf
Aspiration: Knowledge
LTW: Become Education Minister
Neat-4, Outgoing-8, Active-4, Playful-7, Nice-6
Libra

Camphor Leaf
Aspiration: Popularity
LTW: Become General
Neat-4, Outgoing-4, Active-9, Playful-7, Nice-1
Sagittarius

Freshman Year
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

First things first, let's get you two registered.

Psychology for Cassia, since it covers both Law and Education.

History for Camphor, because it covers Politics and Military.

Neither of them have class for several hours. Cassia of course wants to skill build, which means Camphor gets the "privilege" of writing his term paper first.

Cassia met her teachers today, Jan Lawson and William Tsang. This is here more for me than you. I find that eventually they know so many teachers that it's hard to remember which ones to suck up too!

I love Knowledge sims who WANT to write their term papers. I've had a few that never spun up any wants to skill, do assignments, or write their term papers. Err, actually it was NightRowan (prettier-than-real-life-sim-me).

Camphor's teachers are Gwen Jalowitz and Adrian Garth. Does it seem odd to you that they have the same two teachers all the way through university?

Camphor's preferred method of getting good grades is schmoozing the professors. He's pretty good at it too.

"Geez Sis, you can't go to class looking like that!"
"I know, but I spent practically all day yesterday and today studying to earn one measly cooking skill. This was so much easier at home."

Cassia, well aware of the fact that she's honor bound to marry Benjamin when she's finished college, has decided to make a lemonade out of lemons as they say.

I'd say it worked!

I'd say it REALLY worked!!

Cassia!!! Don't you think you're moving a little fast?

"You already told him I'd marry him, what difference does it make?"

Every morning we have the same routine; toilet, shower, slap dance.

This is how they spend the rest of the day.
It's like playing Caraway and Benjamin all over again.

At least Camphor found a romantic interest. Her name is Jasmine Mazza.

He also became Big Sim on Campus.
Of course, just to be difficult he hadn't spun up the want for it.

Camphor got his first kiss too!

Sophomore Year
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I decided to solve the problem of Renee and Amar at least. They've been sent to college and then townified. I also gave them back something resembling their teen outfits first, lol.

Cassia finally maxed out cleaning, leaving only creativity and cooking.

"Those are nice..... drool"

Cassia's usually a pretty sweet girl, but you DO NOT want to get into a snowball fight with her.

Cassia is building her cooking skill by stocking the fridge with lots of yummy leftovers!

Freshman Year
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I like the evil snowman better anyway!

Digging for treasure! The only things is, while Pinstar has said digging is okay, can we keep the things we dig up if they're still restricted? Or rather, not just keep them in inventory but actually place them on the lot.

Cripes Camphor! The very first time I let you dig for treasure you hit a water main?

That we keep! And for now it can decorate our walls.

I'm actually kinda going with keeping maps, rocks, and treasure chests. I'll gift away all the stuff you can buy from the catalogue.

Finally!! That means she just needs to earn one cooking skill.

Booyeah!

Shiny!! I want one!!

Knowledge sims can be awful stupid sometimes...

Hooray Hoorah! All seven skills maxed. What am I going to do with her now?

Well, she she can't build any badges, I guess she'll have to work on her relationships.

"Mommy!!!!"

"Get out of here you stupid cow before I beat you into a bloody pulp!"

Camphor always leaves his term assignments till last minute and ends up having to do two or three of them in a row at 1 am.

Senior Year
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Write some more novels Cassia! I've got plans for that cash.

What do you do with a super smart sim who has nothing left to learn? Have her teach others for extra cash of course!

Why are we raising extra money? Because I'm sick of seeing all the townies turned into frozen popsicles. Therefore, we add a third floor and a hot tub. It's guaranteed that if we invite them over and don't interact with them, they'll head straight for it. Cassia and Camphor really haven't been spending much cash, they pay out $1,200 to the mob once a semester, and the replace their fridge once per semester. That's it, no other cash spent by these two. Cassia tutors and sells novels to raise extra cash.

CASSIA!!! That's not your boyfriend! Get your hands off of him, I'm reserving him for future Knowledge sims who DON'T have an arranged marriage planned.

See what I mean?

Amanda Hart = Knowledge sim

Two maps down, one to go!

Cassia's preferred method of making friends is buying friendship. Not to mention, we need to get rid of all the "illegal" things she digs up while looking for maps.

Camphor you schmuck, you would find someone you find more attractive than Jasmine just as your about to graduate. Good Grief!

And so college ends. With such good grades both of them should find topping their apocalyptic jobs and their dreams jobs a snap, provided Caraway gets around to lifting Science sometime soon. Tune in next time to see how they grew up!

Week 15

2008-01-14T09:33:00.000-05:00

Last week I managed to get Burdock fired first thing on Monday. He spent the rest of the week pretending to be a sexy pirate, woohooing his way up to five loves, nagging at me for a hot tub, which I finally gave him, and finally, passing away on Sunday. Of course, he hadn't had any woohoo that day so he wasn't platinum. Caraway became an adult and moved his way up the ladder all the way to Scholar. With Caraway finally an adult, and the teens not due to grow-up for awhile Betony and Joe finally had time to spin up some wants about each other, and spent most of the week in a platinum mood, even if it was mainly fueled by small interactions like jokes and back rubs. Betony made it all the way to Lieutenant, it seems she may actually accomplish her LTW. Sunday morning Camphor found a job in Politics. He's not happy about it, but he's still doing well enough in that track. Betony spent most of the week skill building, while her mother has started looking around for potential spouses. Benjamin Long is currently at the top of that list just for having high skills and already being a General. He's a slob, he has a huge nose, and his clothes are awful, but I may be willing to put up with it all.

Day 100 - Monday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Mo Shin ga la!"

Ok, there's one good thing about the vacation townies coming home with you. Every now and them you catch them doing something vacationy. Slap Dance time!

Yes!!! Two promotions in one day!

Generally my sims aren't very good dancers. In this household though, everyone is a great dancer, and they seem to pick up the skill quickly too!

Day 101 - Tuesday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
One teaspoon full at a time... If we can Betony into platinum today might be the day she achieves her dreams.

Come on Caraway, you can do it, just a few more promotions and you can stop looking like a dork.

We almost forgot the smustle faces of Generation 3! ForevScuba got me hooked on them with her Disney Legacy!

That makes four skills she's maximized!

(Mechanical)

Good choice Camphor, even if you did already have 10 Charisma points.

"I'm the greatest thing ever!!!"

Yes! One less sim to worry about!

All right, that means it's time to set my plan into motion...

First we get Benjamin to agree to move in and marry Cassia when she becomes an adult, thus lifting Military restrictions...

"Once a brave general from the family leads the local National Guard in a strike force against the zombie hordes, the streets will become safe to travel again and the military restriction is lifted."

"-Sims may travel to any community lots.
-You may invite over any Sims
-Sims may be sent off to college.
-Teenage Sims may “ask permission to go out” or “sneak out”
-Sims may “Find own place” or otherwise move out of the house."

We promptly get all of our scholarships in order...

And then off to college they go. I'll be writing about their college life next entry. As far as I can tell the rules don't have anything in them about how long they can be away from home. I'm just finishing this week off and the twins will return next Monday.

"You're too late to say Goodbye to the twins Burdock."

With their two youngest now gone to college, and Military lifted, Joe and Betony have decided to return to the house where I accidentally left Agrimony and Glen's graves. I just don't have the heart to kill them. We'll consider this retirement. I may do more about there story when Caraway has lifted Science and moves in with them.

We'll go get them settled in a moment, right now let's talk about Benjamin. Benjamin moved in with loads of junk which he gifted to Betony and Joe to take to their new home and $2,000. He's a General which means he lifted Military, he's also got excellent skills. I'm pretty sure most of you have a pretty good idea of Ben's personality and all, but I just HAVE to introduce him!

Benjamin Long
Aspiration: Knowledge
LTW: Become Game Designer
Neat-2, Outgoing-3, Active-9, Playful-7, Nice-4
Sagittarius

When Betony and Joe arrived back at their previous home, they discovered that looters had stolen everything but the family graves. In fact, they'd even scavenged the top two layers of the home. They promptly went and found some new furnishings for their home, but they only had $3,254 to bargain with. Besides which, most people had little use for simoleans at the moment. Still, Betony was happy to be near the graves of her mother and father again, and she knew her children and their children would take care of her brother's grave.

Luckily for them, they both had work that first day, which helped bring in some much needed money for the essentials.

Back at the hut, it appeared that all the upheaval had made for a couple of active ghosts.

Having already served his apocalyptic duty, Benjamin decided to see if the job in the paper happened to be in the Gaming business. Unfortunately, it was a job as an Emergency Medical Technician.

He was pleased however to note how much more comfortable the Hut was than the dive he'd been living in since the nuclear meltdown.

Day 102 - Wednesday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Off my boys go to work in their big noisy helicopter!

Every now and then I summon their BV friends so as not to lose the relationship. Hey! It's not my fault that none of them have phones. Then again, it may be, I haven't heard anyone else complaining about none of them having phones. Hmm... I guess in order to test that theory I'd have to clean out my downloads folder and put things in one at a time...

It's very quiet at the Hut now. Caraway calls his friends, and Benjamin sandwiches himself in between the bookcase and the Jumbok statue.

Day 103 - Thursday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"You know, if Caraway would hurry up it would be much easier to find my dream job."
Hush, he's doing the best he can. He doesn't even have work today.

Check it out! Camphor and Cassia came home for a visit!

"Dude! You and Ben are really letting this place deteriorate! How 'bout cleaning up once in awhile?"

Geez! I give you guys a couple of unsupervised minutes and you start arguing with each other? I really don't get it, you guys have a 100/98 relationship. I guess he really was upset about how messy the house was.

Cassia, don't tell me you only came home so you could soak in the hot tub?!

"He better not be laughing at me!"

Well, at least Benjamin is being productive.
(Logic)

Day 104 - Friday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
While this is a good thing, it's also bad because he doesn't have work until Tuesday. I guess I'll have Cassia NOT look for a job until he's been promoted. Maybe have her get started on the next generation first.

Good, that just leaves Logic to max out for your job. I guess I got his skill set messed up, I thought he already had all the required skills. Good thing I noticed when I was checking when his next day of work was.

Day 105 - Saturday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And that makes Logic. You're all set kiddo!

Caraway heard that now that the military has cleaned up the streets some brave intrepreneurs had started a local hang-out called Apocalypse Now. Since he doesn't work he's going to head over there and check it out. (If you spot something that shouldn't be allowed with my current restrictions let me know and I'll correct it)

This is Apocalypse Now, it's a beach front property. It's built according to building restrictions, although there is one square of stairs outside of the 8x8 grid. So sue me, it was that or lose the gorgeous rock hot tub. I decided to count it as a hot tub and not garden decoration. Even though culinary has been lifted I decided not to include a barista as I thought it might count as hiring an NPC. Same goes for the massage table which I really wanted to include. Caraway's going to give us a tour of what we can do here.

First off, we have the Mahjongg table. I love Mahjongg!

A tea table... I love the quiet tones they speak in at it!

... a steam room ...

and finally, a Pirate radio. Don't worry folks, it's cloned from the $99 one.

Time to head home now folks. Caraway is feeling a bit..., well, he got stuck in the sauna for awhile and he'll get cleaned up much faster at home.

Benjamin spent most of the day studying cleaning. Knowledge sims are easy, but a bit boring to write about.

Don't worry Cassia, I'm keeping an eye on him for you!

I rather like Lilly, and I do want Caraway to have someone to share his life with later on.

Aww, come on, they're a cute couple!

Maybe not, even trying to match his attractions to her attributes only gave them one lightening bolt. Oh well, I guess we'll keep looking. At least he got a new best friend out of the whole thing.

Day 106 - Sunday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hurry up Paperboy! I want my paper now!"

This is all they do all day, it's really boring.

Bully for you, you maxed out Creativity, I'm oh so impressed.

Summary: There was quite a bit of excitement in Waknuk this week. Betony rose steadily through the ranks of Law Enforcement until she became Captain Hero and Camphor topped Teen Politics. Immediately following that Betony invited Benjamin Long, the future spouse of Cassia, to move in. Ben immediately lifted Military, thus allowing Camphor and Cassia to depart for college, and Betony and Joe to return to the house where Betony's parents' graves reside. Caraway managed to make it all the way to Theorist, leaving only one more promotion to go. To celebrate he went and checked out the newly created Apocalypse Now community lot.

Mob-Payout: $2,250
Household Cash: $424,950

Week 14

2008-01-13T15:23:00.000-05:00

Last week Joe and Betony both became elders and Cassia and Camphor grew into teens. Betony managed to find a job in Law Enforcement before she crustified and Caraway found a job in Science. He then proceeding to quickly reach the top of the teen track. Cassia and Camphor both maximized their body skills, thus allowing them to take jobs in their chosen career fields if they show up in the paper. Burdock continues to trudge his way up the Music ladder, but he's kinda bummed out lately by the lack of romantic action.

Day 93 - Monday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Crud!!! I never get that one right!

Like he wasn't depressed enough to start with. *sigh*

You know, if you'd stop crying long enough to greet her, I'm sure Dagmar could cheer you up.

Thank you Dagmar! You may be a tramp, but you're useful.

Get out of my house you little punk! I can't believe you just hit an old lady with a water balloon!

Day 94 - Tuesday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Glen is a fairly benign ghost, he just wanders around the ground level ignoring his descendants.

Burdock now spends all his time pretending he's still a sexy pirate.

These two drive me crazy. Low time wants all the time, they never want to make out or woohoo. It's awful hard to fill a meter up with back rubs and jokes.

"I'll warm you up Andrea..."

You know, it just occured to me that maybe this is the reason Joe and Betony don't want to do anything in their bed other than sleep. Even that I have to force them or they choose the kids' beds.

Aww, poor Betony. Go get some rest hon.

Day 95 - Wednesday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Caraway, what have you done to your parents? All they think about now is you. They don't have any interest in your brother and sister, or in each other. Come on, where'd you hide the brainwashing device, and can I borrow it?

Burdock actually thinks that Marylena is fairly repulsive, but hey, he's not in a position to be picky.

Any love is good love right Burdock? Personally I think Marylena is cute. She looks like she might provide good genetic fodder.

Marylena makes five loves and five woohoos. Of course, now Burdock wants ten. Usually I'd just have him have public woohoo with all his current loves, but he's stuck in the Hut.

"What the?...."

Caraway Leaf
Aspiration: Popularity
LTW: Become Rock God
Neat-4, Outgoing-4, Active-9, Playful-7, Nice-1
Sagittarius

What is this? Suddenly my sims have decided that the live in a western movie? Caraway and Cassia now both have extremely western shirts and Betony's is possibly western. Gotta admit, that's an interesting outfit Caraway is sporting, but it kinda suits him. I love the instant promotion to Inventor too! That means he only has 5 more promotions to go. If we're lucky he'll manage it before the twins become adults. The faster he finishes science, the better his chances of topping Music too.

Ben is a potential spouse for Cassia. He's not great looking, but at least he'll bring a bit of diversity to the genepool. First though, we've got to interview him.

Hmm, excellent skills, but.... Either Cassia will have to wait until Camphor lifts Military, or Camphor will have to take on Politics instead. Hmm, choices, choices... Well, I've got a little time to think about it.

Just in case I don't find a better partner, Cassia will spend some time with Benjamin, and Camphor will work on his Political skills. Of course, Camphor isn't allowed to top Politics until Cassia tops Law, so I'll have to make sure to leave at least one skill point unlearned.

Day 96 - Thursday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Are you sure it's a good idea to stick a screwdriver in there?

Oh boy, I know I wanted a white man with blond hair as the next spouse, but am I sure I want this?

"You know Joe, we had an arranged marriage and I'd say it worked out pretty well, wouldn't you?"
"Definitely! I've enjoyed every moment of my time with you, my dear."

"Yoo-hoo!!! I'm getting there!"

Congratulations Betony, just four more to go.

Now that's what I like to see, good little sims skilling their brains out!

"Woohoo?"
"Woohoo?"
"Woohoo!!!"
(Yup, they finally spun up the want!)

Day 97 - Friday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Joe! You dirty old man!*giggle*"

"Snow Day!!!!"
Wow, we haven't had one of those in awhile. I guess you'll be hitting the books again, huh?

I am a harsh mistress. Here it's a snow day, and I'm making them study. Truthfully I did let Camphor try to call some of his friends, but they're all at work.

Silly me! I forgot that we'd unlocked this career reward. Yay chocolate!

I gotta admit, Family sims make the best 'I got promoted' pictures!

Camphor maxed out Charisma!

It's amazing how easy it is to get Knowledge sims to fall for Romance sims. Look at all the Knowledge sims that Ricky dated in college. (shameless promoting of Knowlton Prosperity)

Caraway, you're such a good sim!

Betony's such a great Mom. She decided all by herself to make a turkey!

Day 98 - Saturday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seriously, Saturday was extremely boring. Nobody had work or school. Cassia studied and everyone else was pretty much left alone to do whatever they wanted.

I really doubt that your sister wants to read your diary Caraway. After all, how interesting can it be; "I went to work today and made a new friend"?

Oh my... Caraway! You got Cassia to put down a book! How'd you do it?

"I told her that she needed to build her 'dancing skill' too!"

I finally gave into Burdock's demands for a hottub despite the size of the darn thing. Unfortunately, he loves it so much that he frequently forgets to tend to his other needs.

Day 99 - Sunday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The nightly meeting of the Old and Wrinkly Club

Every day this week, and finally one of the jobs comes up! Politics it is for young Camphor.

'And another skill bites the dust'

(Creativity)

"Mother! Must you make out with Father while I'm skill building?"

(Logic)

Oh fudge! I forgot to check how old he was! By my calculations he was 68 days old. Bye-bye Burdock, you weren't too bad for a Romance sim, and you were a great uncle!

Man those cards make me nervous with Slacker still in place.

Gah! I'm sorry, I promise you'll still get your chance to be General, ok?

Summary: This week I managed to get Burdock fired first thing on Monday. He spent the rest of the week pretending to be a sexy pirate, woohooing his way up to five loves, nagging at me for a hot tub, which I finally gave him, and finally, passing away on Sunday. Of course, he hadn't had any woohoo that day so he wasn't platinum. Caraway became an adult and moved his way up the ladder all the way to Scholar. With Caraway finally an adult, and the teens not due to grow-up for awhile Betony and Joe finally had time to spin up some wants about each other, and spent most of the week in a platinum mood, even if it was mainly fueled by small interactions like jokes and back rubs. Betony made it all the way to Lieutenant, it seems she may actually accomplish her LTW. Sunday morning Camphor found a job in Politics. He's not happy about it, but he's still doing well enough in that track. Betony spent most of the week skill building, while her mother has started looking around for potential spouses. Benjamin Long is currently at the top of that list just for having high skills and already being a General. He's a slob, he has a huge nose, and his clothes are awful, but I may be willing to put up with it all.

Mob Payout: $2,100
Household Cash: $398,140

Week 13

2008-01-12T18:35:00.000-05:00

Last week was amazing and incredibly eventful! Hotty Glen passed away leaving his loving family fairly distraught. The same evening Caraway became a teen and two days later Cassia and Camphor became children. Burdock, Betony and Joe all managed to lift their restrictions on the weekend, which means that we can now use career rewards, phone lines, and the educational system has been restored, although local sims still can't make it to college until the military cleans up the roads. Even better, we can choose aspirations for the teens! I actually was rolling them all along, but at least now I can guarantee that Cassia won't be Romance or Pleasure! Burdock, ever the show-off decided to have his birthday right before the end of the week, and became quite a distinguished gentleman. All in all, it was a great week!

Day 86 - Monday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wowsa!!! That's a lot of cash for getting kids to play video games!

So, how was the first day of legally being in highschool?

*looks at grin* That good huh?

Ever have the feeling that your sims know more than you think? Suddenly my sims are asking to have snowball fights and make snow angels and stuff. I guess even they realize that the pressure is off for now.

Caraway is now the happiest Popularity sim ever! We can use the phone whenever we want! I'll never get him to study now.

Day 87 - Tuesday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Very boring Tuesday, but at least Burdock got a promotion! Now send away the zombie!

Betony!!! That's your own snowman!

Sparkle Stomp!

Joe Andrews
Aspiration: Family
LTW: Become Captain Hero
Neat-4, Outgoing-4, Active-4, Playful-7, Nice-6
Aquarius

You know, there's a reason Betony still dresses like a teenager!
(other than the fact that Joe's a bit of a pervert)

I've got to say, you're back rub technique is interesting.

Day 88 - Wednesday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seriously, it's great to finally have some new townies without having to generate them myself, but it's a major P.I.T.A that none of them have phones. If you can't figure out pita, I can't tell ya, 'cause I try not to swear on my blog, too many of the places I advertise it would ban it.

Hmm, I do not recognize your clothes little girl, does that mean that Teen Stuff had clothes for kids too, or that I've overlooked something that came with H&M?

"Dagmar! I missed you so much! I need an aspiration boost, help me out?"

"Do I know you old man?"

I guess she remembered, that or she just isn't that picky. Hurry up you two. The people who sleep in that bed would like to go to bed now.

Day 89 - Thursday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Every morning since Joe became an elder, Caraway has been looking for a job in either Science or the Military, but still no luck.

However, today is Betony's lucky day! She found a job as a Security Guard! Good thing too, she only has three more days left as an adult.

"Are you sure I can gain body skills from a book?"

I know it sounds odd, but yes.

Well, that was a fairly obvious choice since it's obviously a take on Bella Goth!

Good luck hon! BTW, I think that's the most attractive work outfit you've had yet.

Wow! That's the first time I've seen that. I was worried for a few seconds.

Day 90 - Friday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You could look happier about it you know. OMG!! To bed with you wench, you have to leave for work again in six hours.

We had a rash of broken toilets/showers last night, and nobody had time to repair them, but if Joe's going to insist on waking up at 2 am, he can take care of it.

Wow! You're really making up for lost time aren't ya Bets?

"Don't call me Bets" >:(

Can you really blame me for loving this kid? She's just so cute!

I was beginning to think you weren't serious about making it to the top.

Please no more pink....

Camphor Leaf
Aspiration: Popularity
LTW: Become General
Neat-4, Outgoing-4, Active-9, Playful-7, Nice-1
Sagittarius

Pretty Sparkles....

Cassia Leaf
Aspiration: Knowledge
LTW: Become Education Minister
Neat-4, Outgoing-8, Active-4, Playful-7, Nice-6
Libra

Yes! I can so let you do that Camphor! Good boy! Cassia, well, we'll see. First you have to lift Law for us. I really am not sure what aspirations go with the new seasons careers. Oh, and I'm awful sorry, but no college for you.

Good boy Caraway! I've been having him look for a job, while forgetting that he needed to maximize his body skills first. Good thing he never found a job, huh? So many rules, so easy to forget. I wonder what new rules Pinstar will come up with when we all get Free Time. Originally I thought it was going to suck, but I'm really looking forward to the sewing and pottery. Plus, from the screenshots, it looks like toddlers may be able to play together now.

Day 91 - Saturday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It's Saturday, study minions, study!

Don't look so worried Betony, he'll do fine.

Yes, that's right, Caraway found a job in Science! The main reason science is so high up on my list is that my sims will be able to look at all five jobs, plus start higher up the career track than the paper.

Joe is probably the last sim in the house who's serious enough to meditate, and I'm gonna take advantage of it!

Well, that's not too bad, goddess knows, this family can afford it!

Way to go Caraway!

I doubt Caraway will tell you what that's all about, so I will. Our little Popularity sim just made it to 10 Best Friends. Congrats again Caraway!

I've taught Caraway well, he has no problem with using the chess table to trap people while he makes friends with them!

Camphor just maxed Body! Good, now you can start keeping an eye out for military. It may take awhile, so there's no harm in starting him young, provided he doesn't get fired from it. Slacker is such a pain in the rear, but I've got other priorities.

"Hey!!! These sparkles burn!!!"

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

Day 92 - Sunday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It's awful hard keeping a Romance sim happy without dates. Just about the only want that he rolls up that we can do something about is to play with family members.

Ooooh! Me Likey!!!!
I figured she might as well gain some fitness while she finished up body.

Good man Caraway! Now try not to get fired.

For someone who wants to reach the top of this career, you always come home with a sour look on your face. Get over it, I'm sorry there's no dating, but it's not my fault. Well, ok, it is my fault, this could be a legacy instead, but it's not, so suck it up.

"Thank Maxis! My back was getting so sore on the beat!"

Just before midnight, Cassia managed to finish maximizing her body score, and that seems like a good place to end the week.

Summary: This week Joe and Betony both became elders and Cassia and Camphor grew into teens. Betony managed to find a job in Law Enforcement before she crustified and Caraway found a job in Science. He then proceeding to quickly reach the top of the teen track. Cassia and Camphor both maximized their body skills, thus allowing them to take jobs in their chosen career fields if they show up in the paper. Burdock continues to trudge his way up the Music ladder, but he's kinda bummed out lately by the lack of romantic action.

Mob Payout: $1,950
Household Cash: $383,503

Week 12

2008-01-11T12:57:00.000-05:00

Last week all three of cats finally passed on to the great catnip field in the sky. Not really sad about it, they were cute, but annoying. Caraway become a child and Betony gave birth to twins Camphor and Cassia. It was decided that Cassia would be heir since she was the only child to have Agrimony's eyes. The 2nd generation continued to move steadily up their career ladders, miraculously managing to not get fired because of chance cards. Burdock made it to Hostage Negotiator (twice)(L8), Joe made it to Power Leveler (L7), and Betony got all the way to College Senior Professor(L8). The original lot was plagued by a horrid glitch that caused the lot to crash every time it got to 7:06 pm, necessitated a move to a new lot. The move will have to be repeated so that the family's days match up my schedule.

Day 79 - Monday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Lady, are you FINALLY finished moving us around?"
Yeah I think so dear, although there was a tiny snaffu this time around.
"A 'snaffu'? What kind of 'snaffu'?"
Err, you know how last time I put all the graves in Caraway's inventory, and then when we got to the new house we had two sets of graves?
"Yes....."
Well, this time I figured they'd just follow us anyway, so I didn't bother, and they kinda didn't follow us....
"You mean you LOST my MOTHER'S GRAVE?!?!"
Well, it's not really lost, I'm sure it's still at the other house..... I guess I could send someone to get it once we lift Military.....

Now that that little bit of drama is over, it's time to start toddler skilling. It's actually pretty easy to get walking, talking, and most of potty training done on one bottle, as long as everyone's in a good mood before you start. Actually what really bugs me about moving is that they all lose their aspiration levels. Well, except for Glen since he's permaplat.

Geez Cassia, I know I said I wanted a little color variation in the Gen 3 spouse, but not at the expense of THAT nose. BTW, how do you walk with your ankles forced that far apart by the extra "no-panties" fabric of your dress?

Oh No!!! The zombies found us again! Do the brains of the Leaf family really smell that good?

Way to go Burdock!! Of course, now you don't work until Thursday, but one more promotion and I'll let you get working on Becoming a Rock God. Or at least, I will as soon as Agrimony's finished topping her career.

Woot!!! We're having an awesome day! If you can manage to get that last promotion tomorrow that would be really awesome! You see, you're brother will only have about 4 days to find a job in the Music track as it is.

"Ugh, I'm so tired I can barely keep my eyes open. Why didn't you warn me how hard it was to be a career woman and a mother?"
Because, if I had, you wouldn't have done it.

Day 80 - Tuesday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You all know what this means by now, yes, it's another Togetherness Tuesday.

I'm sorry Brandi, but he needs another aspiration boost.

At 6 pm, everything went crazy....

Happy Birthday Caraway
Aspiration: Popularity
LTW: Become Rock God
Neat-4, Outgoing-4, Active-9, Playful-7, Nice-1
Sagittarius

One step closer to free phonelines....

"Come with me old man, your time of suffering has ended."

Betony and Cassia took Glen's death the hardest. The men mostly just went on with their day, but it took me hours to get the girls settled.

Joe and Betony did their best to make the loss of the twins grandfather easier to bare, but it was hard keeping a happy smile on their faces.

Once again it was Uncle Burdock to the rescue. Joe and Betony were exhausted and fell into a coma like sleep, but Burdock had had a little nap after his rendez-vous with Brandi and was able to watch the children all night. BTW, EA/Maxis, toddlers actually do sleep all night long.

Day 81 - Wednesday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You just never appreciate how hard it all is, until you have to do it all by yourself.

The worst part is, I like this girl. I think she's cute in a rather wacky way, but I'm betting that she's one of those new townies who don't have phones. Bummer.

I guess Caraway agrees with me.

This boy's been getting tips from his uncle. I mean honestly, he just met the girl today! Her name is Renee fyi, which I also totally love.

*Here's were I realized that yet again I'd broken a rule! I forgot to NOT let Caraway go on the bus, which is why he was able to bring this girl home. No more school for you until your mother lifts that restriction, bad NightRowan!*

Go Joe! One more promotion and the phone lines are free!

Day 82 - Thursday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
One of the high points of having toddlers in the house is how quickly the Wabbit raises the fun of children and teens!

Arghh!!!! Hurry up Burdock! I want to be able to use some of those career rewards!

Of course I was so destracted by the chance card I missed Cassia's birthday, then again, so did everyone else!

Oddly enough, nobody missed Camphor's birthday. Are you guys trying to tell me something?

Cassia Leaf
Neat-4, Outgoing-8, Active-4, Playful-7, Nice-6
Libra
This girl always seems to pick great clothes!

Camphor Leaf
Neat-4, Outgoing-4, Active-9, Playful-7, Nice-1
Sagittarius
Poor Camphor, pink pants. Really Maxis, what were you thinking?

Day 83 - Friday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Hi! The Plumbbob Diety Lady said I should be nice to you since I'll probably want a boyfriend when I get older and newspaper boys make good boyfriends, especially since Daddy is having a hard time getting rid of the gamers who are hogging the phone lines."

Joe's been chained to the chess table. He needs to finish maximizing his logic before he goes to work tomorrow. After that I think we may have to put him on some sort of workout routine because someone's getting a bit 'chunky'.

Great, the rugrats brought home friends, le sigh.

I love Uncle Burdock! He's always there to help his niece and nephew!

It's a bit of overkill when you have the Dean of a college helping you with your homework, but hey, maybe it'll make it even faster!

Day 84 - Saturday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It's 2:37 am, but at least Joe finally finished with his logic!

A little family together time before everyone works on skill building, AGAIN.

AGAIN, I've lost track of how many times he's made it this far.

Joe, you really need to lose some weight, that's just gross.

HOORAY!!!!!!

" Once a Sim reaches the top of the adventure career, they locate the stone's thief, the nefarious Dr. Vu. In a daring raid of Dr. Vu’s lab guarded by pirates, ninjas, ninja-pirates, pirate-ninjas and chartered accountants; your Sim makes off with Dr. Vu’s ill gotten gains. In addition to recovering the stone of Unga-Nunga, your Sim makes off with top secret technology Dr. Vu had hidden the base. The Adventure restriction is lifted. In addition, you may choose a single aspiration reward. You may now place and use aspiration reward, even if Alien Technology is not yet lifted. This can only be done once, by the first Sim reaching the top of Adventure."

Burdock's choice of Alien Technology will be some more Smart Milk!

Another cool thing I noticed, is that while nobody can use career rewards from the original careers (except for sims in that career) until their restrictions have been lifted, that doesn't apply to Seasons careers. I've no idea whether that's an oversight on Pinstar's part or intentional, but I'm all for it. Bookcase of Knowledge, hooray! We don't even need the other rewards with that thing around!

Joe really likes to give gifts out, which is a great way for us to get rid single tile objects we no longer need and things that spouses have in their inventories when they move in.

Day 85 - Sunday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Time for Joe to lose some weight! Although with my luck, I'll get him skinny and he'll age into a Santa outfit which will of course give me the urge to make him fat, lol!

Burdock's last chance at becoming a Rock God, will it be the only job available.....

YES!!!!! Burdock's gone from being a Space Pirate to a Record Store Clerk and we're happy about it. I really doubt he'll make it to the top before he dies, but at least he'll have a chance.

This thing may take up a lot of space, but it's now the fastest way to raise fun in the Hut!

Hey! Who said you could stop skill building to show-off for Burdock?

We're having an excellent weekend!

You now have 7 days to find a job in the Law Enforcement track.

" With your Sim rising to the top of Education, they rebuild the region’s educational system, and even restore the old college back to its former glory. The education restrictions are lifted.
- Sim teenagers may attend school.
- Sims may attend college. (once military is lifted)
- Sims may teach other Sims skills via career rewards
- Sims may "pass on" learned business perks to other Sims.
- you may once again choose your sims's aspirations and change them as you please"

Burdock really seems to enjoy hitting on all the townies I might consider marrying into the family. Christy's not pretty, but she's not ugly, and if memory serves, she's a family sim, which is no bad thing during an apocalypse.

"I feel sparkley..."

Burdock Leaf
Aspiration: Romance
LTW: Become Rock God
Neat-3, Outgoing-4, Active-10, Playful-10, Nice-7
Sagittarius
Wow! Nice threads!
So far I've been very lucky with the clothes they've grown-up into!

*Happy Dance*

Generation Two has finished unlocking their restrictions!!! Unfortunatly Joe only has two days to find a career in Law Enforcement.
"Your Sim has a brilliant two part plan, upon reaching the top of Gamer; they create their own MMO, and base the servers out of the region. The second part is they master the current MMO, and PK every single player on the servers constantly. People get so fed up and frustrated with the current MMO, they go looking for a new one to play. Your sim’s new MMO becomes all the rage. The server load that once tied up the phones is now gone. The Gamer restrictions are lifted.
- Sims can use the phone for any reason other than quitting their job.
- Sims can use the computer for anything other than "write novel" or "write term paper", if the science restriction is unlocked."

Summary: This week was amazing and incredibly eventful! Hotty Glen passed away leaving his loving family fairly distraught. The same evening Caraway became a teen and two days later Cassia and Camphor became children. Burdock, Betony and Joe all managed to lift their restrictions on the weekend, which means that we can now use career rewards, phone lines, and the educational system has been restored, although local sims still can't make it to college until the military cleans up the roads. Even better, we can choose aspirations for the teens! I actually was rolling them all along, but at least now I can guarantee that Cassia won't be Romance or Pleasure! Burdock, ever the show-off decided to have his birthday right before the end of the week, and became quite a distinguished gentleman. All in all, it was a great week!

Mob Payout: $1,800
Household Cash: $248,728

Week 11

2008-01-10T15:24:00.000-05:00

Last week our beloved founder Agrimony passed away at the ripe age of 75 days old. Not bad for a sim who never achieved her LTW. To balance things out we also saw the birth of the first 3rd generation child, Caraway Leaf. All the adults managed to find jobs in the career tracks that I wanted (how amazing is that?). Betony is currently an Elementary School Teacher, Joe is a Flag Capturer, and Burdock has made it all the way to Deep Sea Excavator. Of course, all this meant that Glen was forced to quit his job and stay home with Caraway, but he seems to be enjoying it. Also, Mouse, Mr. Whiskers, and Sassy all became elders. Hopefully there will be some deaths soon so that Betony and Joe can have some more children. Hopefully none of the new graves will further obstruct the house!

Day 72 - Monday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Well now, that's an excellent start to the week. These new careers, I never know which card to pick, I just figured the volcano sounded potentially messy.

Sassy worked until her dying day, which was a good thing since it guaranteed her grave didn't clutter up the house.

You guys rock! Double high fives!

Talk about a stressful start. I mean sure, I didn't get fired on either chance card, but those things are murder!

Yummy Pirate! I hope you're as sexy as Cap'n Jack for your sake Burdock!

I hope you guys can keep up this pace, I'm not sure how much longer Glen can last, and Betony really needs to pop out a few more kids to help us out. Now get your butt upstairs, your son is about to become a child!

Oh man! Pink jammies! I am so not reintroducing you in that get up! Go take a shower so we can see your "normal" clothes.

"You know sweetie, with Sassy gone we've got a bit more space...."

Arghh, this family is nuts, summer clothes in a never ending winter, you're as bad as your mother! Oh well.

Caraway Leaf
Neat-4, Outgoing-4, Active-9, Playful-7, Nice-1
Sagittarius

Poor Caraway! It's his first night as a child and the ghosts have already gotten him twice!

Day 73 - Tuesday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Glen gets along much better with generation of cats than he did the last, although that could be because they're very needy cats, and he's actually fairly lonely despite being crammed into a teeny tiny little house with his two children, a son-in-law, and a grandson.

Hah! I see you trying to hide your Maximized doohickey thingy!

It's Togetherness Tuesday again, which means Burdock is a happy man. This is the closest he'll ever get to date night!

At least Joe just wants the ladies to play chess with him..... ok, that sounds really bad, doesn't it?

Well, that's one good thing about having a parent who works for the school board, at least she gets home just in time to cheer Caraway up after his first day of school.

Caraway, wipe that miserable expression off your face. Do you know how lucky you are to be allowed to Learn To Do Homework?

Pardon the picture quality, but I thought it was interesting that this is how they've all decided to spend their Togetherness Tuesday. Seriously, other than giving Burdock the go ahead for romantic moves and having Glen prepare Gelatin they all made their own decisions.

Belly-Pop #1 at 11pm.

Day 74 - Wednesday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Heh heh! Glad that I learned something from the local version of learnt something from the local version of Spirit Day! Go EAST!!!

Death came for both Mouse and Mr. Whiskers on the same day. Bye guys, it was fun having you around. On the upside, I no longer have to fast forward through the nights.

"Did you hear?"

Yes, now, I'm sorry but you're cats are dead, and you have to go back to work and try for another promotion.

I almost want to say darn! He actually was a fairly cute pirate.

Apparently Glen never mentioned the "special" properties of cheesecake to Betony...

Day 75 - Thursday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I know just how you feel buddy....

Geez Agrimony! Can't you have a little sympathy for the poor sap?

"Dad! Dad! I got an A!"

"That's nice son, now help me beat the nice lady."

You know, I hate to say it Burdock, but you're almost too pretty to be a boy. Yes, I know it's off topic, but it just hit me how pretty he is.

"Now can I stay home?"

'Fraid not hon, that's only level 7, you've got three more promotions to go, and you have to work tomorrow. Be a dear, and pop out that kid tonight.

"Peek-a-Boo!!!"

CRASH!!!! CRASH!!!!! CRASH!!!!

The lot went totally haywire on me for some unknown reason. In the end the only way I could fix it was to move the family to a new lot. The new lot is only a 4x4, but I've subtracted $5,800 to make up for that difference. Also, the family won't be paying the mob this week since they had to re-buy all of their furniture anyway. I figure it ends up the same. To keep my game on schedule I used the Insimenator to change the date time to Thursday at 6pm. The game crashed around 6:30, so they've only gained half an hour. This is their new home. It looks different, but has the same layout. I just changed colors. I did change one desk and chair because they were custom content that I was afraid were glitching the lot. They have approximately the same value as the old and take up the same amount of space.

Day 76 - Friday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bless you Betony! I was beginning to think you'd be forced to quit your job because of this pregnancy.

Welcome Camphor Leaf (it's a boy)

Welcome Cassia Leaf (it's a girl)
Cassia will be the heir because she's the only one who has Agrimony's eyes.

For now we're going to see if the twins can get away with sharing the crib. Cassia got the first turn just because she was the first one changed.

And the answer is, apparently not. I thought that sim babies just fell asleep on the floor like normal babies. Darn, now I'm stuck with two cribs in this tiny room until Athletic, Law, and Politics are lifted.

Run!!! Run for your lives!!! The zombies are attacking!!!!

Glen is weird. He's afraid of changing diapers, but he's feeding the babies constantly. Big Dummy!

Cool! Now you have two days to work on your cleaning skills, so get to it!

I really hate all these new townies who don't own phones. Has anyone found a hack to fix it yet? Pretty please with sugar on top?

"Hello? Can I go to bed now? It's exhausting playing on the computer all day!"

*snicker*

Day 77 - Saturday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Woops! Forgot to take a shot of the outcome. Apparently Burdock doesn't know what reverse psychology is, and the terrorists used it on him instead. He got demoted to Warhead Disarmer.

Back to work you go fool!

It's a day of skill building for these two. Betony needs more cleaning skills for her next promotion and for some reason I thought Caraway would need 10 Body skill to go to High School (if Betony tops Education) but it looks like it's only if he wants to leave the lot for any other reason.

Good man, now try not to screw up this time.

It's odd, but Romance sims seem to make great Aunts and Uncles. Burdock's almost always got one of the twins in his arms and he persistently wants to be best friends with Caraway.

Day 78 - Sunday (Winter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Another day of skilling... at least this time Caraway got to spend some quality time with his dad. Don't look so worried kid, don't forget, you cheat.

The real reason that Burdock likes to say that they're too old for this game is that he's kind of a wuss and his sister constantly beats him.

This poor family is deprived. This is their first ever Berry Pie, and it's likely Glen's last as well. He'll be turning 80 tonight. I can't remember what the oldest sim I've ever had was, but he's getting up there.

It was almost 9 pm before I got one of these blasted kids would grow-up. I guess I should have used the cakes.

Camphor
Neat-4, Outgoing-4, Active-9, Playful-7, Nice-1
Sagittarius
(he's a little clone of Caraway)

Cassia
Neat-4, Outgoing-8, Active-4, Playful-7, Nice-6
Libra
Aww... I love her!!!

A/N: The family will be moving into a replica of this house AGAIN on Monday because the time/date cheat that I used only lasts until midnight, and I'm getting bloody sick of having to reset the day.

Summary: This week all three of cats finally passed on to the great catnip field in the sky. Not really sad about it, they were cute, but annoying. Caraway become a child and Betony gave birth to twins Camphor and Cassia. It was decided that Cassia would be heir since she was the only child to have Agrimony's eyes. The 2nd generation continued to move steadily up their career ladders, miraculously managing to not get fired because of chance cards. Burdock made it to Hostage Negotiator (twice)(L8), Joe made it to Power Leveler (L7), and Betony got all the way to College Senior Professor(L8). The original lot was plagued by a horrid glitch that caused the lot to crash every time it got to 7:06 pm, necessitated a move to a new lot. The move will have to be repeated so that the family's days match up my schedule.

Mob Payout: none because of the move
Household Cash: $184,772