The Cleveland-O'Mackey-Household: Update 06.01.2014

Click here for the previous week at this household.

The Cleveland-O'Mackey household still has the same set-up as when we last left them: Justin and Jules, a firm three-bolt-couple from the day they met at university...
       

...Jules' mother, Alexandra O'Mackey... (who recently had a free makeover from Charlie Cho)
     

...and her father, Gabe O'Mackey.
All four Sims are on Permanent Platinum, and after the busy households I played recently, with several toddlers and children to take care of, it will be something of a relief to just lean back and watch. The only times I control these Sims is a) to make sure their fridge is well stocked, b) to have them greet fellow New Maximilianians when they walk past the house and c) to pay the bills.
    

At 78, and only a few minutes after getting up that Monday morning, Alexandra is taken on her last voyage by Mr. Reaper and his Hula Girls.
      

Gabe never saw it happening - he passed out from lack of sunlight. He is the same age as his former wife (they split up when Alexandra became an item with her three-bolt-love, Mathew Picaso, but still lived in the same house all those years).
       

Jules is one of those Sims who develop an eating disorder when left to their own devices.
    

She rather eats smelly leftovers before even getting as much as a bowl of cereals for herself. You can see Gabe still passed out in the background. I wonder how he is ever going to get up again - no sunlight reaches where he is, and without it, he won't wake up.
       

The large house and extensive grounds are covered in a thick blanket of snow.
       

Justin takes it upon himself to clean up the dirty dishes in the kitchen.
       

In the afternoon, Isabella Indie passes by. We have just met her at the Rileys', where Charlie Cho gave her this new hairstyle.
      

At 6.00 pm, Gabe regains consciousness and gets up from the floor with a smile on his face. What caused his newfound energy?
      

It wasn't the sun, that's for sure! Instead, he heeded Mr. Reaper's call, and followed him to the afterlife. He was 79, and quite ready to go, I think. After splitting up with Alexandra, somehow he never really got his life back on track, and his biggest solace was his beloved garden.
       

Poor Jules! She has lost both her parents in the space of less than 24 hours. Justin is thinking about ways to help his beloved wife through this period of grief. His father died a long time ago, and his mother still lived long enough to move to this house with him.
       

On Tuesday, Justin makes omelettes for the two of them - all alone now in that big house! But before she can sit down for breakfast with him, Jules is picked up for work by her car pool.
       

Justin spends good part of the day painting.
      

Jules comes home accompanied by colleague Jonah Powers.
      

Justin seems to be the tidier one of the couple. He clears the path of old newspapers and does some cleaning around the house every now and then.
     

On Wednesday morning, he first has a long hot bubble bath, not minding the toilet really needing a good scrub.
       

Jonah Powers is still there from last night. He and Jules are having a seemingly endless jam session with bass and guitar.
       

In the afternoon, Justin greets Ramon Ramirez.
      

He then gets started on some gardening.
       

He never gets very far with one job, since as soon as Jules is back from work, she can't take her hands off her hubby :-)
       

Finally, the dirty toilet gets cleaned - by Justin, of course.
      

Every now and then, he wanders into his mother's old bedroom and plays with the toy brick there, reminiscing his happy childhood.
      

On Thursday morning, he pracices his impressive skill on the guitar (he is a Rock God, after all!) and plays until he nearly drops to the floor with exhaustion.
       

Jules is NOW eating the omelette Justin prepared the other day!
       

Some townie or other kicked over the trash can, and Jules discovers that this has caused a bug infestation. Oh no, not another one...!
       

She is clever enough to use the spray on them.
      

Then she heads back into the house, waiting for Justin to wake up so that she can tell him about the bugs. By the way, as soon as Alexandra had died, the "young people" instantly took over her and Mathew's old bedroom on the ground floor and stopped sleeping in their own room upstairs.
      

On Friday, Justin makes Chef Salad.
       

For the first and only time this week, the couple have a proper meal together.
       

Then it is Justin's turn to discover the bugs spreading fast across the vast garden.
      

While he is sweeping up a pile of dead bugs, Jules greets Circe Beaker.
       

Of course, this place is a paradise for skunks :-)
       

On Saturday, Jules can be seen serenading Justin as soon as he gets up.
       

For a change, the two of them sleep in their actual bed - at the same time!
      

I did not think I'd live to see that happening, but indeed this is Jules cooking omelettes! (She gets distracted while the pan is on the stove and ends up burning them, but at least she tried.)
       

Justin is once again the one to do the cleaning.
       

Sunday morning sees Jusin returning from a nightly Rock God performance and joining his wife staring at a pile of trash that has been sitting there for days. There must be something about the bug repellant that really switches off our Sims' brains.
      

At least he has not forgotten how to clean.
       

Meanwhile, Jules proves that one is never too old to play all sorts of tricky drum solos!
She is now 68, and Justin is 67.
       

During the day, she eats nothing but half a bag of crisps.
       

At dusk, Nina Caliente passes by and is greeted by Jules.
       

The kind lady helps with the bugs, and this is how the week at this family ends.

With several Sims having worked full-time at the top of their careers for many "years", plus the occasional chance card bonus, the household fortune is now at 519.000 Simoleons. Quite impressive, isn't it!
But, as you can see, being rich does not protect from being dumb :-)

Will Jules and Justin be able to get rid of their bug infestation without the help of a professional Exterminator? Is Jules going to remember the orchard her late father so lovingly planted at the side of the house? Will any of them retire, or just keep going to work until they'll die?