Sorry it’s so late guys, I had a meeting yesterday morning and then my cousin visited for twelve hours. I also ran into a fairly major snag at the end of the week.

~~~~~Sunday~~~~~

As you can see, things go on as normal at home. Ginger’s normal chores are superseded by the need to get all these wimps into shape.

“Do you like my newest song Mr. Gnome?”

“Quite nice miss.”

It’s back to the daily grind for Hawthorn, which translates to writing up reports on all his friends for the department.

I thought I’d take a moment to show you which relic collections the family has completed. I’ve shrunk it down and compiled it so as to not waste too much of your time. They’ve managed to collect two complete sets of Canopic Jars and a complete set of Gold Figurines. You already know about the Zodiac animals, but they’re missing one more to make a second complete set. They’re also only missing one Chinese Vase.

Way to go Timmothy!

I love it, the future Forensic Analyst and the future Master Thief playing catch together.

Once Ginger gets back from work though, Timmothy has to put in a serious workout.

Way to go Hazel! Now you can concentrate on things like gardening, mechanical, cooking and charisma.

“All of that?”

Well, you are going to have children eventually. All of these things are required to take care of the home.

“Even charisma?”

No, that’s more because it’s a very useful skill to have in general.

“I like this tree best.”

“Let’s see… exercise…toilet…shower….  ….. ….. what was I supposed to do next?”

Bed you dummy.

~~~~~Monday~~~~~

My two early-birds here decided to get up at 4:30 because I forgot to extend their sleep hours. I’d love it if I could tell them to wake up at 6 am. Instead my options are ‘Until Fully Rested’ or until an hour before you leave for work. How about two hours before you leave for work?

Sometimes these two are so in sync it’s scary.

Despite his obvious personality flaws, the family seems to really like Timmothy.

For some unknown reason, Hawthorn was unable to hang out with his partner at work today. Hawthorn has to socialize with him a bit and then call his boss for the missed promotion.

“Yuan my love, we will be together soon!”

*OMG! That’s Hazel! They say she’ll be the next big thing, I can’t believe she’s my niece!*

~~~~~Tuesday~~~~~

Looking good Timmothy!

Ginger really seems to get a kick out of forcing the next generation into shape. If only she had time to take an interest in her husband’s physical fitness, but alas, she’s got three who need to get in shape for their careers, and one who needs to get in shape just so my eyeballs don’t have to look at a slightly chubby sim in the skimpy outfits involved in rock ‘n roll. Foxglove as an elder in those outfits was scary enough.

Hazel seems to be doing well enough with the gardening. Don’t worry about the dead plant behind her. It’s the family’s Deathflower, which once harvested dies. The women of the family just keep replanting it.

Lynn hasn’t been spinning up any more writing wants, he’s now an upgrade things kick. Why is it the elder male sims always want to tinker with something. Is it a coincidence, or did EA do it on purpose? At least the sims tend to have some idea of what they’re doing, unlike some of the RL male tinkerers I know. “Instruction manual? Why would I want that?”

One more promotion to go Hawthorn. Are you excited?

“This is my excited face.”

If we’re really lucky, Fred Redkey may be Hawthorn’s last interview.

~~~~~Wednesday~~~~~

Timmothy spent the night wanting to learn a little bit about all sorts of skills. First it was charisma, then fishing, then gardening. Seriously, he’s the one who kept rolling up the wants. I really don’t mind though, I find it rather useful for sims to have at least one point in every skill because then they can build on it doing every day sort of things or from watching television. I’m not sure why, but you can’t learn gardening without the first point from a book, and all the television channels are likewise useless unless you’ve already got one point in the related skill. Weird huh?

Hawthorn is bound and determined to maximize his charisma, so I’m trying to help him out with that before he tops his career and moves out.

The school has asked Hellebore to improve her writing skills. I guess it wouldn’t be a bad thing for a forensic analyst to be able to form concise sentences. Maybe she could even become this world’s Bones. I love Bones! I was actually thinking of comparing her to Scully when I first aimed her at law enforcement, but Bones is a much better match for Hellebore.

For some reason Ginger goes easier on Hazel when she’s training her. There’s less yelling and more encouraging.

As usual, poor Lynn is left to figure it out all by himself. He kinda just drifts around the house upgrading random plumbing and transfiguring things for me.

“I can’t possibly work out without Ginger!”

~~~~~Thursday~~~~~

Timmothy once again spends the early hours of the morning studying. This time he’s working on his cooking skills. I’d love for him to be able to cook stir-fry. I’ve tried to remember to have my sims pick up multiple copies of foreign recipes while they were on their trips, although sometimes they’ll learn one of the recipes for free from the cooking channel.

These three love to watch television in the mornings and evenings together. I almost forgot, and sent to Timmothy off to bed before canceling to send him to watch tv, which is why he’s also in his jammies.

The family has a lot of magic gnomes, but as I’ve mentioned before, some of them don’t seem to want to move. I’ve moved them around a bit in hopes that they’ll change their minds. There are four more that I’ve managed to locate in other positions around the property or in the house. I love looking for the darn things!

Ginger finally has a day off, which means we’re throwing the first party since the apocalypse!

Looking good Hazel! Guess that treadmill helped, huh?

“I hate you.”

“Is that Hellebore over there? I almost didn’t recognize her without her glasses.”

Young Tim here, confusing isn’t it, has been invited as a potential date for Hellebore. From the appreciative glances he’s been throwing her way, I’d say he’s open to the idea.

Here’s the guest list:

Tim Herbert – Hellebore’s date
Grape Root – Ginger’s sister
Esther Root – Garlic’s daughter
Sameh Root – Garlic’s son
Garlic Root – Ginger’s brother
Reisa Root – Garlic’s daughter

Hellebore receives her first kiss tucked away in the study, safe from the prying eyes of her family.

Ginger even breaks out a bottle of nectar for the guests.

I don’t know what Sameh did, but suddenly the entire family, including his sister, is lining up to go downstairs and ask him to behave.

Err, ladies? I’m not so sure about allowing Esther down here where we keep the spare jewels. She’s criminally insane you know. (Translation: Evil, Insane, Athletic, Artist, ?)

Mostly I just let everyone do as they please, although I did ask Hazel if she’d play for our guests for awhile.

Reisa’s not much better than her siblings. She’s Clumsy, Mean Spirited, Excitable, and she Can’t Stand Art. What did Shanta do to these kids? It can’t be Garlic’s fault, because he was always wonderful with children.

Shanta showed up at the party at midnight. It may not be her fault, she may have been working since she’s also in the music industry.

~~~~~Friday~~~~~

“I love this show, don’t you?”

“Oh absolutely! Rachel Ray’s a genius!”

Sorry, my cousin and I were trading recipes today, and Rachel’s name came up as one of the more practical tv chefs.

The ghosts no longer steal beds, they seem to prefer the sarcophagi. I’m actually considering whether or not I can fit a bunch of them outside. Do you know that those things only sell for $1? You’d think that since you have to collect multiple pieces and reassemble them they’d be worth a ton, but they’re not.

Hmm…. it’s seems they do become more valuable over time, but it’s going to take many generations (which we don’t have many left) before these things are worth any real value.

Back to the normal grind guys. To tell the truth I can’t believe how quickly this generation is lifting their restrictions. Hawthorn is due for his final promotion, Timmothy is already at level 4, and Hazel is at level 6.

“Root, Hawthorn Root.”

Woot! Hawthorn has lifted the Special Agent Restrictions!

“Once a brave International Super Spy emerges from the family, they can clean up the streets and restore order, allowing police and fire fighters to once again help people. The Special Agent restriction is lifted.”

• Sims may purchase smoke detectors and burglar alarms
• Sims may use the “emergency” tab on the phones
• Children, teenage and elder Sims with less than 10 athletic skill points may now leave the lot
• Sims may call the adoption service to adopt a child
• Sims may now sleep in a bed with a ++ rating (Forensic Analyst required for +++)

Are you aware that Hawthorn is raiding your base at the moment?

“As long as I’m not there, it’s all good. Who do you think has been passing him all those juicy tips?”

Aww, how sweet, she’s painting a portrait of Tim.

Hawthorn is having a really good day.

That’s one step closer!

~~~~~Saturday~~~~~

I had to replay Saturday four times, which is one of the big reasons that this post is so bloody late, my cousin being the other reason of course! Love you Whit! The first time around Yuan showed up, Hawthorn got her pregnant and they threw a wedding party. Yuan and Hawthorn couldn’t move out. The second time around Yuan showed up, they had a wedding party during which Hawthorn got Yuan pregnant. They couldn’t move out. The third time Yuan showed up, they had a wedding party, they didn’t get pregnant. They couldn’t move out. Each time I tried ‘Move’, ‘Kick Out’, and ‘Split Household’, all of which resulted in a processing screen sitting on my computer for more than half an hour. The first time I got distracted and actually let it try to process for three hours. So I’m sorry guys, it looks like Hawthorn will be moving out on his own. If he refuses to move out even without Yuan, he’ll have to be terminated with extreme prejudice on my part.

 

“That darn whipper snapper! How does he do it? I’m 80 years old, and I’m still just a thug.”

So? How was the new bed?

“Delightful! I don’t feel the urge to sleep in a sarcophagus anymore! Is that Hawthorn I hear yelling?”

 

Hawthorn has been imprisoned to slowly starve to death. No, I refuse to be humane and kill him quickly. He has angered me greatly and therefore must suffer greatly. I may even leave the killing room for future use. The windows are there so that the others may observe my wrath and learn to be obedient. Yes, Hawthorn was a good sim, he lifted the Special Agent restrictions for me and found the Axe of Pangu, but he’s also wasted 2 RL days of valuable simming time, he’s also wasting Hazel and Timmothy’s time, because I won’t let them have children until he’s gone. I’m aiming for triplets you see. He must pay for his crimes.

 

“Hey! You’re a thief Timmothy, do you think you could break Hawthorn out, or at least find a way to get some food in there?”

“I have considered the idea, but I just don’t have the skills necessary yet. There isn’t even a lock to pick.”

 

“I can’t believe the bloody nerve of her, asking me to upgrade this thing while she slowly starves my son to death…”

 

“Hum hum hum, painting a pretty zebra, hum hum hum.”

I don’t think she’s been out back yet.

 

Goodnight Hawthorn. I felt slightly bad that what should have been the happiest day in his life turned into the worse day so I took enough pity on him to put his bed and a sink in his prison.

 

Until Next Time, Happy Simming!