The Cho-Dreamer Family: Update 17.07.2019

You can read the previous week at this household here. 

The former Cooke-Dreamer house is still here, and there are still Dreamers living there:

Deirdre Dreamer is one of them. She is seen holding a little boy, and the two look so alike they could easily be mistaken for mother and son. But in fact they are half-siblings, having the same Alien father. Deirdre's human father is Dirk Dreamer, while Chandler's human father is Matthew Cho, in this picture asleep in the background.
Matthew was a townie, but with the surname of a playable family, he became a proper resident of New Maximiliania some time ago. He and Deirdre have been in love for a while, but neither has so far rolled the wish to marry.

Deirdre is working at becoming Game Designer; Matthew wants to be a Celebrity Chef.

Dirk Dreamer is now 74. He has reached his lifetime want of becoming Education Minister a long time ago. Because he was invited aboard the Alien space ship twice, he had two half-Alien children: Deirdre and Dora. Sadly, Dora died way too young. (I believe it was during a fire at university, but I can't remember without looking it up.)
Dirk has never wanted to marry; until not so long ago, he has not even had a love interest. But last round, he had affair with Gabriella Newson who, as far as I remember, needed it for her own lifetime want.

On this Monday morning, the room that used to be Deirdre's and Dora's when they were girls...

...gets a colour change so that it will be perfect for little Chandler when he grows up. (I know - in this day and age, the "blue for boys, pink for girls" thing seems outdated. But I felt the pink a little too bright, and like the blue look better.)

Deirde returns from work with a promotion to Power Leveler.

Not a lot happens on Tuesday.
Early in the morning, when Deirdre just finishes her stargazing for the night (she needs a logic point for her next promotion), Matthew jumps into her arms on his own initiative. The two of them have three bolts all of a sudden - when I entered the lot, I checked, and there were two bolts.

Matthew has the day off and is therefore around when Fenya Hart happens to walk by. He politely invites her in.

Dirk has been ringing Jill Fleig a few times now. She is the first Sim that falls under my new rule: Not only townies and NPCs with playable surnames are eligible to become proper New Maximilianians, also Sims who carry a surname I know in real life, and there is a Fleig family in my neighbourhood - I can see their house from my kitchen window :-)

I decide to send Matthew and Deirdre to Sue's Secret Kitchen on Wednesday. It shall count as this family's outing for the week; Dirk stays behind with "grandson" Chandler. (They are not really related, since Chandler is Matthew's child and not Deirdre's, but their relationship is exactly the same as if they were grandpa and grandchild.)

Under the watchful eye of the head chef, aspiring celebrity chef Matthew prepares a delicious berry pie.

Alas, it can not win the food contest against the other entries - stuffed turkey by Desdemona Capp, and a Holiday Roast each by the head chef and Nicole Thompson, a visiting clerk.

Back home, Dirk shows that he still "has got it" at 77!

Thursdays are often rather eventful days in a typical Sim-week, I have observed over the years. This Thursday begins unremarkably enough with Dirk giving the gardener a generous tip.

Then, first Matthew comes home with a promotion to Sous Chef (and colleague Stacy Stacks in tow)...

...and then Deirdre follows, having been made Real Time Strategizer.

Jill Fleig has also been invited over, and while the adults sit and chat in the living room...

...Chandler grows up in one of the bathrooms. Hooray!

This calls for a celebration, and Matthew prepares Blackened Catfish for everyone.

Friday is Chandler's first day at school, and he uses the time before the school bus arrives to do some rope skipping on the landing.

Matthew has already changed into his work outfit when he has a surprise visitor: Johnson Fleig (yes, another Fleig - another NPC eligible for permanent residence in New Max!) hands him a membership card for the Aspirational Laboratories.

Chandler brings half-brother/cousin-whatever Gavin Gavigon home from school. Gavin has Alien heritage, but in the second generation, I think - must look him up on the family tree.

The boys get along like a house on fire, regardless of how exactly they are related, and Chandler makes his first friend outside the immediate family.

Then it is time to sit down and do his homework, under his step-mother's / half sister's watchful eye.

Chandler is already in bed and fast asleep by the time his dad comes home. Matthew has just been promoted to Executive Chef and has brought Calendula Capp along to celebrate. Now he'll need 7 skill points altogether - two logic and mechanical, three cooking - for his next promotion.

On Saturday, I decide to get rid of the original paint on the facade of the house. The colour is still the same, but I always thought it looked a bit "much" with the white stripes added, It still is a very colourful house - certainly one that gets noticed - but at least the white strips/borders/stripes are gone.

Chandler wants to be friends with Gavin Gavigan, and seeing as there is no school today or tomorrow, he is allowed to invite Gavin and his brothers over. The boys are all shown as relatives, too.

Chandler's Dad and Granddad are at work, but Deirdre rings the pizza service - she couldn't have done the boys a bigger favour! They all tuck heartily into the pizza.

Dirk returns from work with Nellie Newson.

Jill Fleig has also been invited again, and Deirde sits a while with her for a chat.

When the Gavigan brothers have gone home and Chandler is in bed, the ladies have a last cup of tea together before calling it a day.

The first thing Matthew sees Sunday morning (apart from Deirdre, sleeping next to him) is the rain outside.

But by the time he is off to work, the sun has come through, and Deirdre happily works alongside the gardener for a couple of hours.

In the afternoon, a few friends (and some of them relatives, too) are invited over. Charlie Cho comes visiting on his own accord.

Matthew looks really happy there, doesn't he? Obviously pleased with the pork chops he has prepared for Sunday dinner with his friends and family, and a chatty group of hungry people who appreciate his food around the table - what more could an aspiring Celebrity Chef want for!

I enjoyed playing this week, especially once the toddler "years" were over and Chandler was old enough to ask other children over to play. Dirk won't be around for very much longer, but maybe long enough to make Jill Fleig move in - that would be nice. And even if not, I have made sure many other Sims have met her here, so they can work on their friendship later this round.

Matthew and Deirdre threw flirting and kissing wishes about each other, but neither of them is thinking of getting married at this time. I wonder whether that will change eventually.