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4.36 End of an Era

Oct23

The rest of the vacation flew by with everyone separating and drawing back together in a comfortable rhythm.

Charles continued to explore, sometimes with Veronica and sometimes on his own.

 

He was glad nobody was there to see it when he tripped over the lightning trap.

 

He had a chance to clean up by the time he stumbled back to camp and passed the bruises off as an epic battle with the ghost of Queen Hatshepsut. Nobody believed him. Charles is a really terrible liar.

Ada and her muse reconciled, and she spent several days with her mind so filled with art that she barely slept.

 

Rutabagas of War, the sequel to Kiwis of Peace, was a 900-page epic written entirely in the snack shop at the Al Simhara Bazar.

 

“Wow, I’m hungry,” Ada mused during a rare break.

“We have all sorts of food here!” the shop girl crooned.

“Gee thanks!” Ada said. “Oh, don’t get up. I’ll help myself.”

 

Left to his own devices, Alberto spent his time offending other adventurers.

 

“You don’t find the hip thrust romantic? I swear it gets me the highest tips. Maybe it’s the thong that does it.”

Charles even got a little time to fish.

 

The mini crocodiles were in particular demand. He brought back a dozen for the local pet shop and paid for the entire vacation from just a few hours of fishing.

(Dude, do you have any idea how large crocodiles actually ARE?)

 

Back at camp, Ada and Veronica got into a freak out competition.

 

Veronica won.

 

She picked some kind of crushed bug up from the ground and ate it. Ada’s muse could never produce anything that upsetting.

 

And Alberto offended more travelers.

 

“You don’t think I’m sexy? Really? Could you explain why? In the interest of professional development, of course.”

The steady stream of rejection finally got to Alberto. Even without his promise to Ada, the writing was on the wall that he needed to find a new career. He found himself wandering and thinking, and he eventually found himself in a garden around a secluded oasis.

 

The plants made him feel something he’d never felt before. This was what he was meant to do.

“Ada!” he cried when he found her that evening. “Do you know how many different kinds of booze you can make with fruits? I can make my own! Why didn’t I think of this before?”

Veronica spent entirely too much time with the local fire pit.

 

Alberto spent a bit too much time adventuring in the local catacombs.

 

The end was the same.

 

Actually, in the end, neither Veronica turned out to be the freakiest vacationer in Al Simhara.

 

Both paled in comparison to one other.

 

Alberto might have lost his edge as an exotic dancer, but he was still quite the showman. He told the gang a ghost story one evening that even gave Charles nightmares.

 

As the vacation rolled to a close, Veronica and Alberto made a decision.

“We’re headed home early,” they told Ada and Charles at breakfast one morning. “This trip is really about you two, and we’re just tagging along.”

Charles was a aghast. “You’re never just a tagalong,” he told Veronica.

“I don’t mean it like that,” Veronica said. “Besides, when you get home, I’ll let you make it up to me.”

 

So they parted with an unexpectedly close new friendship to show for it.

 

Ada and Charles found themselves alone for their last night in Al Simhara.

 

“This is it, isn’t it?” Charles said as he watched his sister over the fire. “You’re going to get married and move out. This is the last time we’re going to take a trip like this together.”

Ada sighed. “Yeah,” she said. “I don’t think it can ever be the same. I’ll miss it. I’m looking forward to showing Alberto France, though. Their art museum is has the greatest hospitality.”

Charles opened his mouth to ask what she meant. Then he decided he he was just as happy not knowing.

They sat back and and drank in the stars on their last night alone on vacation together.

———-

This post doesn’t even have much content, but it took forever to write because life kept happening. October 12 was my 10th wedding anniversary, and the hubbie and I spent four days at a lake retreat with two other close couples and our daughter, and we renewed our vows. Then we had toxic lead paint removed from our house, which required us to crash at our friends’ place with a toddler for two days. Then we went to a wedding at Virginia Beach. I’m exhausted. But we are nailing our feet to the floor now. No more travel until after the new year AT LEAST.

Most of this is cute stuff the sims did autonomously. It was a very entertaining vacation.

I swear, every time I left Alberto to his own devices, he tried to flirt was a stranger, and it never worked out well. He also flirted autonomously with Veronica, who loved it, and neither Charles nor Ada gave a whit while they were on the lot. Sims are forever mysterious.

Alberto’s LTW is actually Bottomless Nectar Cellar, thus the booze remark :).

Since Wishacies taught me that I could get my sims to figure out how to fulfill their needs by clicking on the moodlet (I honestly did not know this), many more entertaining things happen for the most mundane of reasons. Which leads me to ask — should the snack shop REALLY have a working fridge? Isn’t that bad for business?

Apparently Daredevils are immune to fire naturally, and they have a Play with Fire interaction that entertains them and gives them the Adrenaline Rush moodlet. I need to do more with that. Daredevils appear to be the actual perfect firefighters, which I’ll keep in mind for any future child who rolls it. Oh, and Daredevils also have the Watch This interaction, which leads them to eat dirt and gross out another sim. That also gives them an Adrenaline Rush :).

4.35 Some Kind of Honeymoon

Oct2

Now that the kids were settled in school, Charles and Veronica found that they suddenly had time for their hobbies again. It was hard to remember when Charles had been able to find enough time to go fishing. Now that they lived on a lake, he could just roll out of bed early, grab his fishing rod, and float out in his pajamas.

But as time passed, he got more and more restless. Something was missing. What could it possibly be?

Travel!

 

He called and made reservations for a flight to Egypt as a surprise.

“You know,” he said as he brandished a printout of the tickets, “We had kids so fast, we never had a chance to go traveling together. Mom and Fabian can look after the triplets. I think it’s time for a second honeymoon.”

“I knew there was a reason I married you!” Veronica threw herself into her arms, laughing.

“I hope you don’t mind that Ada’s coming too,” Charles said. “We’ve been traveling together since we were kids. She loves to paint in exotic locations, but she’s not going to horn in on our time together.”

Veronica gave him a mock pout. “I suppose I can share all of Al Simhara with your sister.”

When Charles brought out his traveling knapsack to wait for the taxi to the airport, someone unexpected ran up to meet him.

 

“I’m not late am I?” Alberto asked.

“Um, late for what?” Charles asked, staring at him blankly.

“Ada told me to meet her here,” Alberto said. “She said she was going to take me traveling! I’ve been saving up to take a trip out of Sunset Valley forever!”

“She invited you?” Charles said, raising his eyebrows. “She didn’t tell me.”

“Yeah. I hope we’ll all get along great. Your wife should remember me. I stripped for her at her bachelorette party.”

Charles looked Alberto up and down. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

 

Then he sneezed. “Aaaahtchoo!”

“Bless you,” Charles said.

“Thanks,” Alberto said, wiping his nose on the back of his hand. “Hey, there’s not much dust or mold in Egypt is there? I’m allergic.”

Charles sighed. “You’d better take that up with Ada,” he said.

Alberto couldn’t stop talking all the way to Egypt. Eventually, Charles and Veronica slipped to some empty seats in the back to leave him and Ada alone.

 

“This is amazing!” Alberto exclaimed when they made it to base camp. “This place just cries out for adventure!”

 

“And so much to paint!” Ada agreed.

Charles left them to make eyes at each other and slipped away to move their stuff into the tent. When he emerged, he was dressed to get grubby. “Ada, I was thinking you’d like to show Alberto around the area,” he said. “I have a tip for some an unexplored tomb in the area. Veronica and I could check it out.”

Veronica’s eyes glittered. “I’ve never been tomb raiding,” she said eagerly. “I bet there’s a lot of danger.”

“Can’t I come too?” Alberto pleaded. “You can’t imagine how long I’ve been dreaming of this kind of adventure. And you’re an oldtimer who can show me how it’s done!”

“Oldtimer, right,” Charles said levelly. “Well, Veronica and I are here on our first big getaway since we got married. You and Ada should go make your own romance.”

“Oh, it’s fine!” Ada said brightly. “I brought my easel to paint the pyramid. I’m sure Alberto will have a better time with you two.”

“Please?” Alberto said.

Veronica started laughing. “It’s ok,” she said. “Come along. Charles can make it up to me later.”

 

“This is so incredible,” Alberto gaped as Charles escorted his guests into the ruin. “Everything’s so old!”

“You have to know where to look for hidden switches,” Charles said, beginning to warm up to having an audience. Long ago, Grandad Lancelot had taught him the same things. “See these scrapes on the floor?” He took Veronica’s hand. “I’m going to bet that if we stand here –“

A rattling scraping sound echoed through the room. Charles gestured to the newly opened doorway. “You’ll find the way to the catacombs.”

 

“Me next!” Alberto chortled. Then he glanced to his side, “Wow, I guess that guy didn’t know about the scrapes on the floor, huh?”

 

“Treasure!” he dashed through the chamber door to open the chest within.

 

“Good for you!” Charles said. “We don’t have to look for any more hidden passages here. Job well done! Now, you can get back to Ada, Alberto.” Veronica snorted and put her hand over her mouth, eyes dancing. Charles winked at her as he floated by.

They emerged into the Egyptian sun. The next step was to find an antiquities dealer for the artifacts they’d uncovered. Alberto wasn’t nearly as excited about that prospect, so Charles and Veronica were able to disentangle and wander down to the bazaar together.

The dealer, however, treated Charles in the way to which he had long become accustomed.

 

He kept his meeting with her as short as possible and finished their dealing with a weary smile. The thing about people finding you repulsive was that you got a little extra bargaining power.

Veronica, however, stared silent daggers as they haggled. When Charles turned back to base camp, she took matters into her own hands.

 

“If my husband weren’t one of the most gracious men alive,” she hissed. “He would have ripped you a new one you rude little wench. Let me do it for him.”

 

The result was probably not an advance in ghost-human relations, but it at least made Veronica feel better.

 

Meanwhile, Ada didn’t set her easel up after all when the trio disappeared to treasure hunt. Instead, she had a long argument with her muse.

 

“What do you know about love?” she demanded. “The trouble with you is that you think you’re real.”

 

“I will not be talked to like that by a figment of my own imagination!”

 

“The trick,” she confided to the leprechaun looking over her shoulder, “is that you have let an uppity muse know who’s boss.”

Once Alberto was safely reunited with his girlfriend at base camp, Charles and Veronica slipped off to the tombs to do some more exploration of their own.

 

“Now THIS is more like it,” Charles said.

 

“Come on now,” Veronica said. “It’s time for you to make it up to me.”

 

“Yes, ma’am.”

 

And the tomb of Queen Hatshepsut saw a lot more action that night than she had seen in a very, very long time.

 

Ada and Alberto watched the sun go down together.

“I didn’t know they lit up the Pyramid,” Alberto said. “Ingenious.”

 

“You’re lit up like the Pyramid in my eyes,” Ada said. “Wait, my muse told me to say that. She’s really pretty stupid about love.”

Alberto chuckled. “I think I know what you mean. Thank you.”

 

“This part I thought about all on my own!” she said and got down on one knee.

 

“You’re kidding!” Alberto gasped. “You got me a ring! Hee! Hee! So romantic.”

 

Then he sobered. “Wait. You mean this is THE ring, don’t you? Are you asking me to marry you?”

“Please promise be my husband and from this day forward, promise to only take your clothes off for me.”

“Ada my love, this seems so totally backward and yet so wonderful. Nothing would make me happier than to take my clothes off just for you.”

 

Alberto pulled Ada into his arms.

 

And very quickly made good on his promise.

 

———-

Whee! Thought I’d never post again, didn’t you? I was starting to wonder myself.

Charles is back to adventuring. And wow, the animations that go with the “Talk to Self” insane interaction are just gold.

I finally came across a good shot of Veronica in her midlife crisis makeover. However, here it seemed more logical for her to change back to her simpler torn jeans look. So instead I put the shot back on the midlife crisis post: Here. Eventually we’ll see Veronica in her Eccentric scientist look in the plot, but it seems to be taking a silly amount of time with all the other plots going on.

4.34 Wet Mishaps

Sep18

Hunter liked food. Since his folks wouldn’t let him use the stove, he persuaded them to buy him an Easy Bake oven for his creations.

 

“You should try this one,” he told Forest in between bites of muffin. “I remembered the sugar this time, and it’s a lot less crunchy.”

“Um, thanks,” Forest said. “I think I’m going to have a can of soup.”

 

“I’ve been planning on what to do with my math homework,” Forest said while he slurped. “I tested out of arithmetic, but now I’m stuck in algebra, and they told me that nobody does Calculus until high school at least. So I was going to tell my teacher –“

 

He stood up suddenly, looking surprised. “I was supposed to do something wasn’t I?”

 

“Wow. I was thinking so hard that I didn’t even notice I had to go! I’ll make a note to check before dinner.”

 

“Yeah,” Hunter said, looking from the puddle to Forest’s bemused face and back again. “You do that. Go pee before dinner.”

Forest gave his brother a hard stare across the table. “This never happened. I mean it.”

Hunter shrank. “Right. Don’t know what you’re talking about. Why don’t I go run you a bath?”

 

But no sooner had Hunter turned on the bath water than the hot water knob came off in his hand. The fountaining leak got all over everything.

“This always happens,” Hunter said forlornly.

 

“Let your mom fix the tub when she gets home,” Zahra said. “I used to do that sort of thing, but now she’s the up and coming technician in this house. Why don’t you pick out a story, and I’ll read it to you.”

Hunter picked out the one about the dryad defending her forest from the builder who wanted to cut it down. It was his favorite story, and he never tired of listening to it. Listening was easier than reading it himself. He still had trouble with some of the words.

 

Veronica came home to find her quietest child curled around her pillow, smiling at some happy dream. She sighed. “Zahra could have used her own bed.”

 

Sky woke up in the middle of the night. “Daddy? Why are you sleeping in Hunter’s bed? Where’s Mom?”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Charles whispered back.

———-

Stop the presses, Sara! I got February into the game. It turned out the alternate installer was throwing errors, but it was actually working after all. I even got February’s custom hair. So if you haven’t wasted a bunch of time making a new version for me, forget about it. If you have, well, sorry about that :-p

This is a bit disjoint. I’m trying to assemble some episodes from the pics I took of the kids. Some later events resolve themselves better.

It turns out that Sky is underrepresented in childhood. I think that’s going to remedy itself during teenagerhood, since she’s a Virtuoso who is *not allowed to play any instruments* while a child. Ugh. These people have clearly never heard of the Suzuki Method. Or, really, actually looked at a school music program. I started at age 11 with the viola, and that was kind of late.

Sigh. More peeing. There was a lot of peeing in the first few days of the triplets’ childhood. Yes, Forest is Absent Minded, and Hunter is Clumsy :).

4.33 Starr’s Truly Spiritual Engagement

Sep11

The instant Starr Ursine-Sample turned 18, she found a job and a place of her own. In the family gossip circle, the word was that she and her mother Toya got along like oil and water.

Not long after she got out on her own, Charles and family got an engagement announcement. Starr was going to marry her highschool sweetheart Felix Andrews.

 

And sure enough, she and Felix had a lovely little house with a white picket fence. They probably planned to have 2.5 kids together. Starr knew exactly what she wanted, and she wasn’t wasting any time.

Charles had to teach a late class that night, and that many people together gave Zahra a headache. But Fabian, Ada, and Veronica dressed up and headed into town to celebrate with Starr.

They arrived with Starr’s older sister Charmaine

 

and Charmaine’s girl-of-the-month, Adrienne Hatch (daughter of Emma Hatch and Christopher Steel, Mortimer’s step-daughter).

 

Charmaine was still living at home and working hard at the courthouse in a political career like her mother. Toya, who never did have a problem with a little nepotism, was tossing her some choice assignments here and there.

The groom-to-be, Felix, spent the party working in the lawn. This whole shindig seemed to be Starr’s thing, and he was being the dutiful fiance.

 

Toya and Adjo arrived late, straight from some sort of local government function. Through hard work, dedication, and a little bit of misappropriation of funds, Toya had recently been elected Mayor of Sunset Valley — despite her term in jail for embezzlement. The town loved her no matter what she did, but Starr apparently not so much. Toya lingered in the driveway for a long time, trying to work up the nerve to step in to her daughter’s house.

 

Adjo, ever the family peacemaker, gave his wife a kiss and made his way to his daughter’s front porch. “Lovely evening, isn’t it?” he said with a wise smile.

Adjo was showing his age these days, but don’t let that fool you. He was Charles’s most dedicated pupil, and he now held a brown belt in Sim Fu. The cane doubled as a fighting staff.

 

As they all gathered at the door to wish Starr well, Felix shouted from the yard, “Jumpin’ Jehoshaphat! What on earth is that!”

 

Ada started giggling. “I know if you don’t!” she said in a singsong.

“It looks like a class three free-roaming specter,” Veronica said. “Nothing dangerous, but let me handle it. Don’t worry. I’m a professional.”

 

Then she pulled out a massive gun from somewhere under her skirt and blasted it!

 

The party-goers stood around with their jaws gaping open while Veronica, looking smashing in her cocktail dress and stiletto heels, hauled around a Ghost Blaster 3000 to clear up the haunting in the yard.

 

“Can anybody tell me where she keeps that gun?” Fabian asked. Adjo and Starr stared at him. “I’m not supposed to ask that, huh? OK, I’ll shut up now.”

But one person couldn’t keep her eyes of Veronica.

 

Charmaine.

 

When Veronica packed the gun away and declared the house free of paranormal manifestation, Charmaine dashed up breathlessly. “I want you to know how grateful I am for everything you’r doing for the city,” she cried. “You’re a true hero! I’m going to put you in for an award at City Hall!”

“Um, wow!” Veronica said. “Thank you!” Charmaine was such a playgirl that Veronica had been expecting a different and much more uncomfortable conversation. Funny how people surprise you sometimes.

———

Bwah! So the entire family gets an invitation to Starr Ursine-Sample’s engagement party, and I send Veronica to work on her first job for the night, and they end up in the same place! Then apparently the attire requirement for the party took over, and Veronica changed out of her work clothes and did the job in the formals. I’m not sure that the post is half as funny as it actually was to play.

And Charmaine “brightened” Veronica’s day! Which means she’s Good, and it sheds a whole new light on her going into politics after her Evil mother….

Move Update: At long last, the Samples have moved to their new home. After some pondering about how much of the now-extensive extended family to bring, I gave up and brought all of them. How that works into the story depends on where they show up.

For cross-pollination, I have:

– Bookabets (Bookabet alphabetacy)

– Jo Simself (and dogs!)

– Hodginses (SimDjinn’s wishacy)

– Sleeps (simself couple for Eppy Sleep)

– Bergs (Eppy Sleep’s Pinstar legacy)

– Meringues (Sweetest of Dreams wishacy)

– Mentarys (The Simmentary legacy)

– January Callender. (Callenders Legacy) Ahem. I cannot load February into my game. I had this happen once with a couple of sims of Amhranai’s. My current guess is that this involves stuff pack content that I don’t have — which would be all stuff packs, actually. It can’t possibly be expansions, since I have the all through Pets, and I’m sure that Showtime wasn’t out yet when February became an adult. If there’s any chance you could take another stab at posting a version of February that contains base game hair and clothes only, I’d love to try again. I may still try another alternate installer.

– Martin Luther and Tam Butterfield-Callender

Amhranai, I’d really like to have the current Vosses, but if you don’t want to post them, then with your permission I’ll pull Emma from the Exchange. She seems to be the most recent heir you uploaded.

Everyone is elfified — using the new pointed ear sliders that came with the Supernatural patch rather than the older (and quite nice) custom mod sliders. The effect is subtly different, and I think I like it better. I will say that when EA decides to do something themselves, they do a great job.

I’m also bringing along from Sunset Valley the Cagleys from the Cagley random legacy. Their stories weren’t yet done, and I keep hoping that Redhead will come back from hiatus and have a good laugh at what’s happened to her sims.

The rest of the town population consists of a bunch of families built out of stock simbin sims and celebrity simselves downloaded from ModtheSims. It seemed like good models of real faces would be a great way to get as varied a set of genetics as possible. All names have been changed to keep the game from becoming totally bizarre, but if you see a shockingly familiar face, you might be right. Feel free to guess :).

If you’re reading and would still like in on cross-pollination, please let me know! New sims can be added after gameplay starts.

This process has taken FOREVER. I decided to do it the hard way to begin with — downloading all the lots, laying out the town, and then populating it with downloaded sims that all had to be edited for ears and skintone. But even with that in mind, there have been more unexpected snafus than I can count. I’d love to write a long Simfail post about it, but fear I couldn’t make it entertaining enough. Cannot wait to actually play again.

4.32 Goals

Sep2

Sim Fu brought Fabian something he’d never really had — peace of mind. It became a ritual; he’d meet Charles most evenings after work to work the kinks out of his body and mind.

 

Fabian had never been a man who saw a lot of point to the physical. The power of the human brain was astounding. Add to that the collection knowledge mankind had built up over the millennia of recorded history, and there was nothing you couldn’t do. He could sit at his computer and participate in the econopolitical upheaval in China. By comparison, pushing things around with your fists seemed sort of primitive — a throwback to our Neatherthal ancestors. Surely we’d moved past that sort of thing.

It turned out that Fabian had vastly underestimated the power of the primitive, especially inside himself. He had never felt so empowered, and by contrast, so at peace with himself.

And it didn’t hurt that he’d gotten pretty good at visualizing Malcolm Landgraab’s face on the training dummy.

 

Fabian stopped obsession over his promotion at work. The physical release actually helped his focus. He became a master at blocking out distractions, eliminating past and future, and letting the present become all that matters. When his resentment was nicely sealed in a box, 3D Crime Scene Modeling was pretty amazing work.

And, hell, if Malcolm wasn’t going to promote him anyway, there was no point in trying to court his favor. He stopped showering Landgraab with compliments and became his most outspoken critic in the department. After a while, he could see his boss stiffen as soon as he walked into a room, and it was perversely satisfying. Fabian was at the end of his career. What could Landgraab do to him? If he fought back, Fabian would just retire.

Then one day, the list of promotions went up in the break room, and Fabian’s name was on it.

 

He was a Dynamic DNA Profiler, the pinnacle of the forensics profession. By giving up his dreams, somehow he’d achieved them.

Fabian walked past Landgraab’s office as he walked out of the precinct, and his boss looked up to give him a silent, squint-eyed look. Fabian had no idea what it meant. It didn’t seem like a look of respect, but perhaps it was a sort of acknowledgement of a worthy opponent. Fabian could live with that.

 

That night was a night of celebration. Fabian took the whole family out for a fancy dinner on him. He drank a toast to Charles Sample, “The best sensei a geeky old wimp could find.”

Then he lured Zahra into their bedroom for some time alone.

 

“I want to apologize,” he said as he pulled her close.

Zahra raised her eyebrows. “Apologize?”

“I didn’t turn out to be the kind of husband I always thought I would be.”

Zahra thought about this. “That’s true,” she said. “Sometimes you’ve been kind of jerk.”

 

Fabian cringed. “I was kind of hoping you wouldn’t be so eager to agree.”

“What do you want me to say?” Zahra said. “I could point out that I’m not the easiest wife in the world. That’s true. But I never cheated on you. And I know about the ass you made of yourself to Michelle Yo at Willem’s birthday party.”

Fabian flushed a deep red. “How did you find out about that?” Charles had promised to never tell!

Zahra looked at him over her glasses. “Half my department was at that party, Fabian. They told me at the watercooler the very next day.”

 

“Oh,” Fabian said. He sighed. “I thought that if I won your heart, I’d never look at another woman. But the truth is I’ve never stopped looking. Being faithful has never come naturally, even after all these years. I hope that doesn’t make you want to leave me now.”

Zahra shook her head. “That’s not news, but thank you for telling me anyway.”

“You told me once that you were staying with me for Ada. I don’t think she needs me here anymore. I, uh, understand if you want me to leave.”

Zahra smiled a complex smile. “Thank you, but I never needed your permission. If I wanted you to leave, you’d already be gone.”

“Uh…”

“Congratulations on your promotion,” she said. “I never thought I’d ever say this, but I think it’s time to stop talking.”

 

And so they did.

 

———-

In the end, I just had to do it the hard way. I just had to get Fabian to his LTW the hard way — keep his mood high and make him Work Hard every day. So the story is sort of correct. He had to work off his stress moodlet after work, and he pretty much couldn’t do anything else other than work and soothe.

I was starting to worry that he wouldn’t live long enough, but he finally made it.

And in other news, Avalon is back on! Simsample ended up fixing it for me and giving me the files. It looks like there may be something weird with my system. I’m still experimenting. I’ll be pretty grumpy if it turns out I can’t use Create-A-World, but for now I have my Avalon, and I’ll probably move the families in tonight!

4.31 Crazy for Love

Aug13

This time, it was Alberto who called on Ada. She jumped when the buzzer at the gate sounded. “Hey, it’s me!” came the familiar voice on the intercom. “I was, you know, just in the neighborhood and thought I’d drop by.”

 

Ada rushed to the gate, but hid behind the carport to catch her breath. When she emerged where he could see her, she had a stern expression. She eyed him critically as the gate slowly opened.

“We don’t have a neighborhood,” she said. “The closest subdivision is 20 minutes away.”

 

Alberto cringed. “You’re right,” he confessed. “It’s a line. I looked up your address and drove all the way out here in hopes that you’d be home. You’re not mad, are you? I thought, you know, we had something going the last time.”

 

Ada’s face lit up. “You thought up a pickup line just for me?” she said. “That’s so thoughtful! I picked you some flowers in our garden yesterday. I hope they’re not too wilted.”

 

“Wow!” Alberto said. “Nobody’s ever given me flowers. Usually it’s a thing I do for girls. Thank you!”

 

“It’s not too weird to give you flowers?” Ada asked anxiously. “I know I’m weird, and guys usually aren’t around when I call, or they won’t call me back. I don’t want you to do that. I really like you.”

 

Alberto chuckled. “Weird doesn’t have to be a bad thing. You make me laugh.”

They stood talking until dusk. “I have to get to work. Some girl has a bachelorette party tonight, and she wants me to be a barbarian in a loincloth.

Ada raised her eyebrows. “Too bad I don’t know her. I’d love to see that.”

“You know, next time you could invite me in. We don’t have to stand in the driveway all day. Not that I minded or anything.”

“Oh!” said Ada. “I’ll remember that next time! I hope next time is soon.”

 

The next night, she called again. “I hope it’s not too soon! I wanted to invite you over and let you in the gate this time.”

Alberto laughed on the other end of the phone. “Sure! I don’t have a job tonight. I’ll be right over.”

This time, when he buzzed the intercom, Ada chirped, “Come on in! The water’s fine!”

When he walked into the yard, he found her sitting in the hot tub.”

 

“This is a nice place,” he said. “You know you’re tubbing in a running jacket, don’t you?”

“Yeah, I think it’s more comfortable in the water than a swimsuit. Besides, I wore my swimsuit to Charles’s wedding.” Then she dropped her eyes and said nervously, “Would you like to join me?”

 

“I don’t really like to go hot tubbing in my clothes like you do,” Alberto said. And when her face fell, he added, “But I think I have a costume in the car that will do the job. So, um, give me a minute to change into something more comfortable.” He dashed away and came back surprisingly quickly.

 

They had fun splashing about for a while, and then Ada wrapped her arms around him, laughing. Alberto looked at her huskily and said, “Uh, how far were you thinking about going tonight?”

“I didn’t plan to go very far,” Ada said. “Not out of the yard anyway. Are you bored with the hottub?”

 

Alberto flushed. “That’s not what I meant.”

“Am I being too forward?”

“Too forward? No! I just wanted to know what you had in mind.”

Ada thought for a minute. “Well, this is what I’ve been thinking about all the time since we met at the Art Museum.” And she kissed him.

Then very quickly, one thing led to another.

 

“Yahoo!” Alberto gurgled.

 

 

“Whee!” Ada squealed.

 

 

 

They clung to each other afterward, flushed and breathless. Ada nuzzled close and breathed into his hair. “That was so much fun! Can we do it again?”

Alberto sighed contentedly. “I’ve never met anyone like you. I’m sure there’s nobody like you.”

———-

This hot tub gets a lot of action! The original event was lost in the missing pictures, which infuriated me. This is a recreation from much later in gameplay. And then it took so long to actually GET them to woohoo because of every possible distraction possible in the game that I quit without saving. I was NOT going to lose this moment between them!

4.30 For the Children

Aug11

Charles called on Aunt Shanni as soon as he could get away the next day. He dropped by the Crumplebottom Estate, but Jeanette reported that her mom was at work. Charles dropped by to find her at closing time.

Shanni’s eyes looked empty as he hurried up to her. He suddenly found himself unsure of what to say.

 

“I didn’t expect you to be here,” he said awkwardly. “You don’t need the money. Why don’t you take some time to heal?”

“I’m trying,” Shanni said. Her voice was raw. “It’s just–” She brushed a tear out of her eye almost angrily. “It’s just that work reminds me of Agnes a lot less that home does.”

 

“I’m sorry. You can stay with us for a few days if you need to. You should’t be alone at a time like this.”

Shanni smiled wanly. “I’m not alone. The kids have been wonderful. Especially Jeanette. She’s growing up to be an amazing young woman.”

Then a real smile played on Shanni’s lips. It makes me think of what Agnes said to me when we were getting together. “You’ll do it, and you’ll be the better for it.”

Charles smiled back. “She was usually right.”

Shanni nodded. “And I usually didn’t notice until later. You know thing she said the same day that has helped me through my entire career? ‘The line between trashy and powerful is all about style!'”

 

Shanni was going to be OK.

“Please come home for dinner at least. It’s the kids’ birthday. They’d love to see you.”

Shanni shook her head. “Give them my love. Jeannette and Garry are making dinner, and I think we need some family time.”

 

So the triplets’ birthday was a local family affair, but it was plenty happy for all that.

 

In order of birth, first Forest blew out the candles.

 

 

(Better picture, but without glasses:)

 

Then Hunter.

 

 

Then Sky.

 

 

The partying ran too late on a school night, but eventually Veronica kicked them upstairs to sleep in their newly renovated bedroom.

 

Tomorrow would be a long and exciting day.

 

The next morning, after the hustle and bustle of getting the kids off to their first day of school, Charles heard Veronica calling his name from the yard.

“Oh, Charlllles!” she called. Her voice was almost a singsong.

He found her at the gazebo, engaging in her favorite hobby.

 

“Hey stranger,” she said with a sly smile. “You know, I keep having this dream where we were wicked young things who used to go skinny dipping and worse at all hours of the day. You ever have that dream?”

 

“Once or twice,” Charles admitted.

 

“We did it!” Veronica chortled. “The kids are off to school. Your folks are off at work. We have the whole place to ourselves! It’s been so long I’ve almost forgotten what to do.”

 

“I haven’t,” Charles said. “I’d be glad to remind you.”

 

Veronica sank into his arms with a sigh. “It’s good to get some of our own back.”

 

“They’re great kids,” Charles said, “But I’m looking forward to recovering my hobbies.”

“I couldn’t have said it better myself!” Veronica exclaimed and pulled him down under the water.

——–

Patient readers, the triplets finally grew up!

After the bit with Shanni, which was actually Charles’s failed attempt to get a makeover, I completely redid the lighting at the Salon. I have no idea why nothing I did would make things light up in there. Argh. And now I don’t think there will be another reason for the Samples to go there before they move.

Come to think of it, I had that problem with the dojo when I placed it. There was a lot of lighting in there already, but none of it activated. I had to redo the lighting in there too.

4.29 Third Shift

Aug11

The triplets were growing like weeds. Every time Veronica and Charles turned around, they seemed to have learned a word or a new skill.

 

Three toddlers were a lot of work, and that means a LOT of work. There was barely time for anyone to follow their personal lives. Zahra and Charles’s beloved garden became overgrown with weeds. Charles cancelled his classes at the dojo as often as he taught them.

 

Fabian at least made it his personal mission to make sure everyone was fed.

 

He spent most of his spare time cooking. It was nice to at least not have to worry about food.

 

Especially since Fabian had the least patience of the family. And with the way things were going at work, he didn’t always treat the adventures of parenthood with good grace.

 

Then every once in a while, in the middle of all the hard work and exhaustion, there was a golden moment where everything was quiet…

 

but those moments seldom lasted long enough for anyone to do anything about them.

 

There were new ideas to teach the children.

 

And new physical skills too.

 

And then there was potty training.

 

And potty training.

 

And did we mention potty training?

 

The lifestyle was hardest on Veronica. She often came home from a long shift gathering ghost specimens to jump right into child care. She subsisted on catnaps and stubbornness.

 

Charles would ask her over and over again if she needed a break. She’d smile and say, “Of course not! I’m fine!” And then in a heartbeat she’d become a raving, sobbing lunatic. During those times, Charles banished her to her room to get some sleep.

 

But all the hard work, long nights, and lost sleep were paying off. Day by day, the triplets were becoming their own people.

Hunter’s first word was, “Pretty.”

 

Forest’s was, “Color,” but he seemed to mean more by it, like he wanted to color the world to his liking.

 

Sky’s was, simply, “Art!”

 

There were lots of fun times too. There’s nothing that warms your heart like a happy toddler.

 

And those unexpected moments of silliness.

 

One day, Charles realized how independent they were becoming. The workload was lifting. They were getting some of their own back.

 

 

Charles began to walk with a spring in his step. This parenthood thing was hard, but he was schooled in the arts of zen and endurance. He would win, and it would be worth it.

 

That’s when Fabian got the call. “Shanni? Is that you? I can barely hear you. Are you crying?”

 

Shanni was at Sacred Speen Memorial Hospital. Agnes was rushed there in the night, but it was too late. She had passed on.

———-

Sorry to end on such a downer, but it had to happen sometime :(. I actually saw Agnes’s age on a Twallan menu, and she was 92.

I have a great picture of Fabian throwing a temper tantrum over being awakened by screaming kids, but I can’t find it. Not like it vanished, just that I didn’t get it into the right folder and haven’t been able to find it again in the mountains of pictures that I take. I may try once more tonight if I have some time :). EDIT: Found it!

I’ve really been blocking on this post too because I just dumped all the cute toddler pics into a big pile, but I couldn’t think of anything to say about them. So here were are — the toddler skilling redux. Dang, five adults pretty much did nothing but work, sleep, and skill toddlers, and Hunter still finishing potty training on the morning of his birthday!

Avalon Update: I am VERY close to moving the family over in current gameplay. I’ve downloaded all the families except the ones you let me know about in the last week-ish. Once I finish up playing in Sunset Valley, I’ll download the last, drop in the other sims I’m downloading and adding to round out the population, and to the final tweaks to the world. Then we cross our fingers and go.

I am about a bajillion posts behind, so the plan is that I’ll get my posting up to current while I’m finishing getting the world in order.

Yes to Simmentary, I love doing the town updates, and I hope they’re something fun and distinctive about this legacy. I definitely plan to do updates on the cross-pollination families. I think I will do a post with a quick introduction to the families so that you guys can follow along.

4.28 Mad Women

Aug1

The Sample women were nothing if not inventive.

Though they no longer worked side-by-side on the back deck the way they had in their last home, Zahra and Veronica hadn’t stopped scheming for a minute.

 

Zahra faced a few mishaps and misdirections.

 

After one particularly dramatic accident, Lancelot’s old dive well was never quite the same.

 

Veronica on the other hand, “burned” as it were from her own past mistakes, developed a new passion for protective gear.

 

Zahra’s creative brain was always working, and after weeks of lost sleep and smelly potty training, she had a brilliant idea.

 

“By Jove, I don’t know why I didn’t see it before! We don’t need to be potty training all these smelly children! We can make the toilet do it for us!”

She pulled out her trusty Mad Science Brain Blaster (TM), pressed a few buttons, turned a few knobs, and set it out make it so.

 

Things didn’t go exactly as planned, however.

 

Whenever family members wanted to know what happened to the upstairs toilet, she averted her eyes and mumbled something that sounded like, “Everyone has to make sacrifices in the name of Process.”

Veronica took it upon herself to install a new one.

 

“I made a few modifications myself,” she said with a flourish of false modesty. “Now it cleans itself, disinfects your hands with sweet scented spa mist, and sings you a song while you’re doing your business!”

 

“Hmph,” Zahra said. She had never really thought of Veronica as a rival, but perhaps she should reevaluate….

Soon Zahra had a new invention to share with the family.

 

“It beams sleep directly into your brain while you wait,” she explained. “Much more efficient. You can get a night’s worth of sleep in a third the time.”

 

Veronica, on the other hand, was filing a patent on a creation of her own. “I call it the Motive Mobile,” she explained. “Sleep, eat, eliminate your waste, and play mind-enhancing video games while you drive!”

 

The next thing Zahra decided to modify was the family computer.

She insisted that the smoke and scent of burning electronics were all part of the experiment.

 

Zahra came home from the lab the next day to find Veronica closing up the computer case. “That should do it,” she said. “I added some memory and overclocked the processor while it had it open.”

 

Zahra was too stubborn to give up, much less lose face to her daughter-in-law. “If great minds gave up at every setback, there would be no scientific discovery,” she announced. And with that, she fired up the Blaster again.

 

This time, there was a shower of sparks and relativity equations, and….

 

“May I help you master?” the computer asked with a hopeful glow.

Zahra let out a happy sigh. “Well, then,” she said. “That’s more like it.”

 

“At last someone to listen to me!” said the computer. “I need a human to listen to my century archive of dirty jokes!“

———-

There are several pictures missing from this sequence, most notably the computer actually breaking. Also I had a bunch more pictures of the fabulous Mad Scientist match equation blaster.

There will be main plot advancement soon, I swear. All the characters are just so vivid I feel like they should all get their

4.27 The Battle of Midway

Jul31

Charles and Veronica’s birthdays passed almost unnoticed. They weren’t even able to celebrate together because Veronica had an extra shift at work.

 

 

 

 

The truth is that both of them were so exhausted from night feedings, toddler training, and long work hours that the best celebration they could come up with was sleep.

Here they were, halfway through their prime years. What did they have to show for it?

This problem seemed to bother Veronica a lot. She came home from her night shifts at work and woke Charles up to talk about it. Some of the reasons were obvious. She’d quit one career, had three babies, and picked up another. Most of her life was just starting out, so she hadn’t had much time to accomplish anything on her new path.

Still, her sense of uncertainty showed up in some strange places.

 

When she showed up at her regular appointment with at the salon to have her hair done, she asked Shanni to build her a completely new look.

“Tear me down and start over!” she said cheerfully.

Shanni raised her eyebrows. “All right. No looking back now!”

 

The first attempt was all right, but it was too, well, corporate culture for Veronica’s tastes.

 

“Let’s keep the hair,” she said.

“You hate it, don’t you?” Shanni asked.

“Just between friends? Yeah.”

 

The second attempt was much more to Veronica’s liking.

She went home and gave Charles The Eye until he clued in and complimented her on her new look.

[Insert missing picture of Veronica posing with her new look. As far ahead as I have played, and I don’t seem to have ANY simple poses of her. You’ll just have get an idea as we go along. ;-p. At least the shot of the game makeover above gives you a good look at her new hairstyle. I think her new clothes better suit an Eccentric.

ETA: OK, here is a totally out-of-context shot to show off the new look:

 
]

And then there was the car. Charles spent weeks persuading Zahra and Fabian to sell the gas-guzzling SUV monstrosity that Fabian had bought before he married Zahra. Neither of them drove it. Fabian preferred to tool around in his patrol car, and Zahra usually made her trips to the Science Center in the Prius because she felt that she ought to be using more advanced technology.

“Don’t worry,” Veronica said when Fabian finally agreed. “Leave it to me. I’ll take care of it.”

She headed off in the Tofunda Wagon in the morning.

 

And she came home in the afternoon with a shiny green Margaret Vaguester.

 

Sure, it had wiped out most of their savings, but MAN could that car go fast. Veronica looked fabulous behind the wheel, too.

 

For Charles, the whole growing older thing felt completely different. He had the Spirit Sample Dojo, and he’d spent half of his adult life finding and settling down with the woman of his dreams. What was so wonderful about recapturing his youth? His life now was better that it was then, and he hardly felt like he’d been wasting his time.

He did grow a beard that he was very proud of.

 

And he wasn’t at all happy to see the new car. “Forget how much it costs. Do you know what kind of gas mileage it gets?” he demanded. “You can hear the trees sobbing when you drive by!”

“We live out in the stix,” Veronica said. “I’ve cut my commute down to just minutes. Trust me. It’s really a very practical car.”

 

“That’s enough,” Charles said, and there was steel to his voice that Veronica had never heard. “You’re beautiful just as you are. You don’t have anything to prove. So stop trying to prove it. We don’t have to act young by being immature.”

“I’m not–!” Veronica started, but he held her gaze until the words trailed away. She dropped her eyes. “You’re right. I’m making a fool of myself. I’ll stop now.”

“Thank you,” Charles said. “I love you.” She did calm down, and that was the last they spoke of it.

But, Veronica still admitted in private, it really was a beautiful car.

———-

My ghost baby is middle aged!

Among the mysteriously missing pictures are the shots I took of both Veronica and Charles’s new looks. I have no idea what the heck happened to these shots.

Both of them rolled Midlife Crises as a matter of fact. Both of them wished to get a makeover, so I sent them to the Salon to get some cute shots of Shanni doing her job. However, when CHARLES arrived, I got a message saying that Occult sims couldn’t have makovers! What’s with that? So here he was with a wish locked in his queue that he couldn’t dismiss and couldn’t fulfill. I gave up on it and sent him to the hospital to get therapy instead. Stupid EA.

Veronica rolled the wish to buy an expensive car, but I did splurge on the fastest car in the game to reduce her commute into town. Their current lot is about as far from downtown as you can get, so she was wasting a lot of time during work.

Here’s Charles getting his head shrunk with Arvid Voss.

 

(Amhranai, “head shrinking” is slang for psychiatric therapy. I cannot keep my idiom under control. I do try :).)

I’m not sure if you can really get a good look at Charles’s new beard from that picture, but it really puts the crown on his John Lennon look. Middle aged Charles has delightfully chiseled features. I think he is my favorite sim so far, appearance-wise. I’m not sure the kids were quite as dominated by Veronica’s features after all; Charles’s cheekbones are quite distinctive.