The Bell Family - Week 2

The first day of the Bell's second week, until Sharon Wirth moved out, are here. There first week is here.

It is mid winter, and Desiderata Valley is a veritable Winter Wonderland. Here we are at the house of the Bell family - minus Sharon Wirth, who last round moved out of her sister's and in with John Mole. The week with the Bells starts on a Tuesday. 

The first thing I do is FINALLY change the spelling of Issac's name to Isaac - as it should be, and as he is also spelled in his Maxis-written biography. (I used the Tombstone of L & D for that and made sure to do nothing else with this powerful cheat.) 

While Isaac has been doing well in his dance career (he dreams of becoming World Class Ballet Dancer), his wife Hannah has been less lucky and lost her job in the Slacker career last round due to a chance card. She needs to get back into that career if she wants to achieve her lifetime want of becoming Professional Party Guest. 

Here, Isaac encourages Hannah over their breakfast; he is sure that she'll soon be back and climbing up that career ladder faster than ever. 

Their son Daniel is still in the early stages of teenhood; his room has not yet had a makeover.

When Daniel is at school and Isaac at work, Hannah has the house and all morning to herself. She is happy when her sister Sharon comes visiting on her own accord.

Isaac returns from work with a promotion to Interpretive Dancer.

I completely forgot that the Headmaster had been invited! (This happened at the end of the first round, about two years ago in real time.) 

Daniel wishes to get into Private School, and the Headmaster is duly given a tour of the house (which he much appreciates) and then offered a bowl of vegetable stew (which he likes well enough). 

But then it shows that the family weren't prepared - everybody is dead tired, and while Daniel and Isaac go to bed, Hannah has to try and schmooze the Headmaster, without succes; she, too, is very tired plus REALLY needs the toilet, which probably results in her not being up for the schmoozing. The Headmaster leaves at 82 points when 90 were needed. Sorry, Daniel!

Wednesday turns out to be a much better day for the Bells: Hannah finds a job as Party DJ but will only start on Friday; this gives her ample opportunity to work on her skills and friendships. 

Also, the Headmaster is invited over again, and this time, Zeeshan Trimble is the one to conduct the assessment. Isaac greets him with a polite but firm handshake and is rewarded with a friendly smile. Unlike yesterday, the family are much better prepared.

Hannah's cooking has much improved, and after a successful tour of the house and a steaming bowl of freshly cooked vegetable stew, the Bells are awarded 103 points, more than the 90 that were necessary. Daniel will start at Private School tomorrow! 

Thursday morning sees a very smart looking Daniel heading to the school bus.

He even enjoys his homework more now that he's in Private School! Maybe his room's makeover has something to do with that as well. The furniture is largely still the same, but the decor is not as child-like anymore. 

He still kept his nutcracker, though. I suppose when it comes to Christmas, our Sims are just as nostalgic as we are :-)

As soon as Daniel is back from school and has finished his homework on Friday afternoon, the family walk over to The Frippery Frock. Spring is here, and their wardrobe leaves much to be desired. 

While his parents greet some of the neighbours (Hannah can be seen talking to Priya Ramaswami)... 

...Daniel heads straight to the clothes racks. As a fashion-conscious teenager, he is eager to find something to wear when it gets warmer. 

Back home, Hannah has a mug of coffee before heading off to work; she's on nights now.

She only just manages to greet her husband and congratulate him on his latest promotion before it is her turn to get in the car: Isaac is now a Tap Dancer. 

Much as Daniel likes school (especially since his move to Private School), he enjoys not having to be up and out at a certain time on Saturday. A leisurely morning spent in his dressing gown, he very much appreciates his Mum's omelettes. 

Later, Hannah works on her playlist for tonight. Being a Party DJ is all good fun, but she wants to advance in her career and hopes for a promotion. 

Yesterday at The Frippery Frock, Daniel met Rick Contrary, and now he rings him in order to make friends. 

Isaac returns from work with colleague Trent Traveller in tow, both still in their tap dancing outfits. He is very tired, though, and goes to bed after a good soak in the bathtub. With Hannah out for work, Daniel is the one to say good-bye to Trent, and then he retreats to his bedroom as well. 

It is 4:00 am on Sunday morning when Hannah returns from work. Her diligence has paid off - she is promoted to Projectionist. That still means working the night, but a little earlier now, starting at 6:00 pm and finishing at 1:00 am. 

For many Sims, Sundays mean Family Day or at least time off work. Not so for the Bells; if you want to become World Class Ballet Dancer or Professional Party Guest, your job extends to weekends, and Isaac's Tap Dancing is on tonight just as it was yesterday. Practising and exercising is in order, of course. 

Daniel invites his friends over (not the kid that has just happened to walk by). Pauline Aspir and David Ottomas have been best friends with him for years, and now he wants them to meet Rick Contrary, his latest friend. Funnily enough, both boys find Pauline really attractive, while so far Daniel has not shown any romantic feelings for her. (It really made me laugh when they both "had the hots" for Pauline at the same moment!)

With both his parents at work, Daniel orders pizza. But almost as soon as he has placed the call, all three of his friends say good-bye at the same time, and he is left with a whole pizza on his own! 

This was truly odd; I don't know why they all left. There was no fight or anything going on, and they certainly had plenty of things around the house to have fun, and nobody had to feel neglected as they could socially interact among each other. 

Monday turns out to be the most intense day of this week with the Bells. First, Hannah is promoted to Home Video Editor and goes straight to bed after coming home at 1:00 am.

Not long after all lights have gone out in the house, a shady figure is seen sneaking towards the house - a burglar! And her name is Allyn Smith, so she'll eventually be befriended and made a permanent resident of The Valley, I hope.

"How can someone sleep as fast as Mr. Bell here, he's not even aware I am taking this ugly painting!" Allyn thinks :-) 

Before she leaves, she also takes the TV from the lounge. Of course everybody did wake up, but it was too late to do anything.

Hannah has gone to work and Daniel to school when Luis Aspir comes visiting on his own accord. The Bells and the Aspirs have been very close ever since Hannah and Elizabeth went to elementary school together, and although Isaac wanted to work on his skills, Luis has priority, and the two men sit and chat over lunch. 

Hannah proudly announces her second promotion of the day: She is now a Freelance Photographer. 

In between, she was lucky with a chance card; it had something to do with editing a video last minute and including footage either of a dramatic clown or bunny rabbits. Since I actively dislike clowns, I went for the bunnies, and lo and behold Hannah was given 75,000 Simoleons!! I found the chance card really funny and laughed out loud reading it. 

Hannah's second promotion of the day was not the last one on Monday - Isaac finally moved from Tap Dancing to Ballroom (personally, I think Tap requires at least as much skill as ballroom, if not more). 

The week ends with the Bells being really rich, having crossed the threshold to 100,000 Simoleons, and Isaac's prediction about his wife rising the ladder of her career really fast after her unfortunate firing last round has come true, too. Daniel is eligible for college now; we'll see how his friendships work out after the rather strange behaviour of Pauline, David and Rick the other night.

A Family Sunday wasn't possible, but Hannah's sister came visiting early in the week on her own initiative. Also, I was happy to be able to send the family to a community lot and make purchases without the game crashing. It still crashed a few times, but not in relation to the community lot visit.