The Greenman Family (Gary and Jessica): Week 7
Click here for the previous week with this family.
We are now starting with the first of several Greenman households. This is the home I originally gave Jessica and Matthew Picaso when I first started New Maximiliania in 2008. Maybe you remember that Matthew left Jessica for his three-bolt-love Alexandra O'Mackey. Jessica eventually married again, this time Gary Greenman, one of Rose Greenman's plantchildren.
Who lives here at the moment?
Gary is here, of course. His lifetime want is to marry off six children, and he was doing well: When he married Jessica, her children counted as his, even though their biological father was Matthew. The only child he and Jessica have together is Glenda, child number six.
But...
...some years ago, two of Jessica's four sons died in a fire at their dorm at university. This tragic accident meant not only a lot of grief for the young mens' family and friends, it also means that Gary is two kids short of his LTW. He is now 7 days from Elderhood - not much time to get either pregnant with twins by Alien abduction or turn into a Plantsim again and plant two kids.
What to do?
I decide to use both strategies and use more than half of the household funds to buy a telescope, and also have a garden plot set up, hoping Gary will turn into a Plantsim again the first time he gets to spray the plants.
Jessica is here, too. She is now 65. Her original LTW was the same as Gary's - to marry off six children - but inexplicably changed to becoming Chief of Staff, which is of course too late in her life now.
Last but not least, there are Glenda and the family dog, Jack.
Glenda wants to have 20 best friends and already has 11 by the start of this week.
On Monday, Glenda makes her Best Friend # 12 in Titania Summerdream.
Tuesday early morning, Gary is still stargazing with no Aliens in sight.
Money is tight in this family with nobody ever having had a job, and so Jessica repairs the broken sink herself instead of calling the service.
On Wednesday morning, Jessica talks to her daughter before Glenda has to go to school. She is very close with all her children, and being the last one home Glenda maybe has a special place in her heart.
Later, she invites her son Prezioso over (he lives just next door). Mother and son share a love for music and dancing and make quite a good couple on the dance floor, don't they!
It is Thursday, and another Repair Day for Jessica: First the trash compactor breaks down...
...and then the computer.
Both Jessica and Glenda want to throw a party, and so friends and family are invited over. Here are Lavender (Gary's sister, also one of Rose Greenman's plantchildren turned human) and her husband Geoff (formerly Rutherford).
Glenda gets along very well with her Plantsim uncles.
Angela Pleasant, one of Jessica's oldest friends, is invited as well. Jessica wishes her friend would be a little less uptight and join the Hula, while Angela wonders whether it is really appropriate for an elderly lady to move her hips like that.
Something very, very rare in my game happens that night: The party is broken up by the police!! OK, the stereo WAS blasting away for hours, and there really WERE many Sims on the lot, but the next door neighbour (Prezioso Picaso) was part of the party anyway and certainly did not complain to the authorities!
Friday morning sees Gary playing with Jack. The dog has not been featuring much yet in this chapter, but rest assured that the family and whoever comes visiting are looking after him very well.
On Saturday, it snows for the first time this winter.
Glenda is very embarrassed when she witnesses her parents' frequent displays of affection.
No school and no homework today! Instead, Glenda is allowed to invite some of her friends. B'Elanna Beaker, Perseida Powers, Meike and Stephen Riley as well as Giselle Goth are there.
Giselle has very recently lost her entire family in a fire. Glenda feels very sorry for her and hopes that coming over and spending time with others her age - some of which are half-siblings by the same Alien father - will help.
That night, Nigel Newson becomes Glenda's 13th best friend.
Sunday is Family Day for many of my fellow Sims2 bloggers, and this Sunday is definitely a family day for the Greenmans.
A platter of Christmas cookies was in Gary's inventory at the beginning of the week, and now is the time to serve it.
The cookies won't be the only food on offer, though - there will also be Gary's birthday cake! Everyone gathers round...
...looking at Gary...
...and watches him transform into an Elder.
Will Glenda go to college? She does not need it for her lifetime want, but it would make it easier because of the friends she could make there.
How long is Jessica going to stay around? She's 72 now.
What is Gary going to do about his lifetime want - CAN he actually do anything?
what about adopting two children that way he might see them married? or do you have a genie lamp on that lot and just ask for peace of mind!
ReplyDeleteTrouble with adopting is that I only "allow" playables in New Maximiliania... I once had an adoption after one little girl was left on her own when her whole family died in a fire (Phineaus Furley and Alegra Gorey's family).
DeleteThey don't have a genie lamp, but someone else in their family received one yesterday, and that was actually my first thought :-)
What a lovely round, nice to see gatherings of lots of Sims!
ReplyDeleteIt will be hard for Gary to complete his LTW I think unless he does become a plantsim. Adopting could work too, can you adopt a teen? I'm not sure on that.
I'm all for sending Sims to college and as you say it will help with her LTW.
Looking forward to seeing them all next time around.
I think teens can be adopted, but then they wouldn't be true New Maximilianians... So far, the tomato plant in the garden has not needed spraying, and Gary turned into an Elder without getting the chance at being a Plantsim again. Not sure yet what I'll do, but I have a plan since yesterday ;-)
DeleteYou should make him adopt 2 more kids it's a fast and easy to get his LTW achieved :)
ReplyDeleteNo adoption, as the kids wouldn't be true New Maximilianians... I try to avoid using townies etc. in this 'hood, there is already one exception (Carla Reamon who was not an original Maxis-made playable but a native from Twikii Island) and maybe I'll add a few who have the same surname as a playable, but no adoptions in this case.
Delete(apologies if this ends up a double post, but I don't think my last attempt worked).
ReplyDeleteIs it true that Gary's stepkids would count as his own for a LTW? I never thought that would work, but can't say I've tested it.
I have one suggestion for you, depending on if you will allow a small game cheat. I had a male Family sim who had just become an elder, and he rolled the want to have a baby, though his wife was also now an elder. I found it unusual, considering he had gone most of his adult life without rolling that want again (they have 2 college-age daughters), and usually Family sims start wanting grandkids when they age up.
I decided they were a progressive enough couple to have a surrogate mother carry the child. I moved in a young woman they were both friendly with, and used the Tombstone of Life & Death to "simulate genetic merger" between her and elder man. And it worked! The older couple will raise the baby, and the young woman will move out and marry her fiance who's soon graduating from college.
Of course, if you don't want to use a cheat, you can always have Gary have affairs with younger ladies, but that doesn't seem very nice for a happily married couple. At least this way everyone's still friends after!
Your suggestion with the surrogate mother would certainly work, but I am not sure I'm willing to do it that way. Also, as you have rightly pointed out, having affairs would just not be very nice - and so unlike Gary. We'll see whether the plan I have in mind will work out or not :-)
Delete