The first week with the Dreamers is here.
It is the beginning of winter when we arrive at # 195 Main Street in Pleasantview, where the Dreamers live.
Widower Darren and his son Dirk have a quick chat on this Monday morning before Dirk boards the school bus.
It is the beginning of winter when we arrive at # 195 Main Street in Pleasantview, where the Dreamers live.
Widower Darren and his son Dirk have a quick chat on this Monday morning before Dirk boards the school bus.
The teenager is a Fortune Sim who aspires to make his fortune as a City Planner, and one of his big wishes is to go to college.
His Dad has always dreamt of celebrating the Golden Wedding Anniversary with his wife Darleen, but although she died when Dirk was still at elementary school age, he has not forgotten this wish; he is currently in love with Cassandra Goth. Holding no regular job, he paints almost every waking moment in order to make a living through his art.
Last round, money was a constant issue and the bills were just about being paid. Marrying into the wealthy Goth family would of course put an end to all financial worries, but that is not Darren's motivation.
Let's see how they fare this week!
As before, Darren paints and paints and paints. His paintings now fetch more money than they used to, and selling the one you see here on his easel boosts his bank account to 1.239 Simoleons.
This means that Darren doesn't fear the arrival of Tuesday's bills in the mail anymore :-)
After Dirk has returned from school and done his homework, he watches some TV with his Dad and they talk about the important things in life, such as friendship.
The upstairs toilet clogs, but Darren does not feel comfortable to spend money for the repair service and rather does the unpleasant job himself.
Later that evening, he maxes out his Creativity - his paintings should sell even better now, and maybe he can finally start on some improvements around the house, such as better beds for his son and himself.
When Darren isn't painting, he blogs about it, as he does on this Thursday morning after Dirk has left for school.
Afterwards, he helps his son with the paper work for uni - the time is almost here when Dirk will leave home for four years.
But for now, he's still a teenager, and when Beau Broke happens to walk by, he rushes out to greet the boy he only vaguely knows from school.
He can't spend time with his guest just yet, though; after homework, some jobs around the house and garden are waiting for him first.
Eventually, though, the boys hit the dart board (literally) and have a lot of fun.
During the night and well into Friday morning (until after 6:00!), Darleen's ghost appears, appropriately wearing winter clothes. She roams the garden but never goes into the house. She obviously misses her family as much as they miss her.
When Darren wants to blog again, the computer breaks down. With only one mechanical skill point, it is a dangerous thing to attempt to repair any electric or electronic device...
...as Darren finds out soon enough! Thankfully, he is as right as rain again after a shower, and before he makes another attempt (this time successfully) at repairing the computer, he unclogs the upstairs toilet for the second time this week and reads up on Mechanical.
On Saturday, the two Dreamers leave the house after breakfast and walk the few paces along Main Street from their house (# 195) to the shops at # 290.
Darren buys fresh groceries and then says hello to Dina Caliente, the only other resident of Pleasantview visiting the shops. Dirk can't see anyone he would like to talk to.
A townie produces a batch of hot dogs, and since it is lunch time, Darren and Dirk gladly help themselves to one each before walking back home.
There, Dirk makes that all-important phone call, and soon afterwards, the taxi for college arrives. Darren can't believe his little boy is almost grown-up now!
Of course we'll check on Dirk right after the week at the Dreamers' is over.
The only thing worth mentioning on Sunday is that Darren finally has maximum enthusiasm for art. He now gets into "the zone" whenever he picks up his paint brushes, and earlier today, he was given the special plaque now displayed on the wall next to him.
There was not a single romantic wish from Darren all week, and the only friend he rolled the wish to chat to on the phone was Christian Love.
What happened to his wish to marry Cassandra Goth? It did not appear all week, and so I had him pursue his skill-related wishes and use most of his time to paint and make a bit of money selling his paintings.
He'll turn into an Elder at the start of the next week here, and I wonder whether he is still so focused on his late wife that he is not ready for Cassandra yet, and I want to check how big their age gap is now.
Dirk was busy with homework, house and garden jobs and talking to friends on the phone.
He and his Dad have been keeping their close relationship by talking before or after school, and over meals.
The house and garden are still unchanged, and I plan to have Dirk return here after college, which is where we're headed next.
