Sharon Wirth - Week 2

Please click here for Week 1 with the Bell-Wirth family, and here for John Mole's Week 1.

We're at the Bell's home in Desiderata Valley, but not because it's the start of the next round (it is not), but because of Sharon Wirth living here as well. 

Here she is, the younger sister of Hannah Bell who lives here with her husband Issac and son Daniel. 

About Sharon, Maxis have written that she "has decided to move in with her sister's family until she becomes a bit more financially stable. She has found herself very interested in Mr. Mole, but has had a difficult time getting to know him…" 

She is in a romantic relationship with John Mole and I wonder whether I should make her move in with him, since here at her sister's place she only has a small bedroom with single bed, while John has an entire house to himself, much more suited to a couple. 

In my game, Sharon is a Romance Sim with the unusual lifetime want of becoming General. At the end of last round she made it to Junior Officer.

Issac Bell, her brother-in-law, dreams of being a World-Class Ballet Dancer and is diligently working at it.

Sharon's nephew Daniel is now a teenager and typically, on this Monday morning we find him on the phone to one of his friends - not that he won't see them at school in half an hour anyway!

After school, with Hannah being at work, Daniel and his Dad heat up some of the vegetable soup left in the fridge for them. 

Issac has brought his colleague Trent Traveller along after work, and he gets to eat Sharon's spaghetti bolognese that evening.

Poor Hannah! It really wasn't her fault, it was a chance card... She has lost her job as a Projectionist and will have to start in the Slacker career all over again. Her goal in life is to become a Professional Party Guest. 

Sharon has a wish to woohoo, but that's not possible at her current home with only a single bed available to her (and her room not big enough to hold a double bed). 

She and John Mole have been an item - on her initiative, too - since the I played John's 1st week, and therefore the decision is made: She'll move in with him here at No. 153, Main Street.

She arrives amidst the snow, and John is obviously VERY happy to see her. Sharon's financial situation has really been as unstable as Maxis have made out in her bio - she adds a mere 1,576 Simoleons. No furniture or decor is in her backpack, since John's house is fully furnished, but she brought her career reward (although I don't think there is enough room for it in John's garden). 

The only things bought to accomodate the two of them now are the settee you can see here, and a wardrobe and bedside tables in the bedroom. 

John is so excited about Sharon moving in that he slightly overdoes the hamburgers he makes for their first dinner together as a household. Never mind - several glasses of sparkling wine help to wash them down :-) 

And who cares about a slightly burnt meal anyway, when there are so many advantages to living together! Sharon gets her wish granted ;-) 

Tuesday is a good day for Sharon - she is promoted to Counter Intelligence.

It is also a good day for John, who is promoted to Rookie Field Agent. He still hasn't found a job in Journalism, and will stay in his current career until he can switch.

The dishwasher breaks, but with two relatively well-skilled people in the house when it comes to mechanical, calling the repair service doesn't even enter their minds. 

Sharon has the day off on Wednesday, and John only has to be at work in the afternoon. Therefore, they take advantage of the free morning and walk to the Frippery Frock for some outfits better suited to the various seasons. While Sharon makes her choice, John talks to Toby Scott. With two career-minded Sims, friends are important. 

"Fancy bumping into you here, sis!" Hannah is happy to see her little sister, and vice versa. She wonders whether Sharon and John are going to get engaged eventually.

Back home, John changes into his new wintery clothes and muses about his best friends before the car pool picks him up for work.

Sharon too changes into her new woolly jumper and warm trousers.

She spots Sam Thomas walking by and invites her in, and the two ladies spend the afternoon together. 

Thursday is another day off for Sharon, and she uses it mainly to skill and talk to friends on the phone, while John, who has once again not been lucky in finding a job in journalism, is off to work all afternoon. 

On Friday, Sharon returns from work with Nathan Gavigan in tow. Over a game of kicky-bag, the two colleagues become friends.

The start of spring on Saturday has brought on a spur of growth of the hedge outside the garden wall, and John does some clipping before he goes to work. 

Sharon has taken the wrong decision with a chance card and loses her job - very unlucky for her, but luckily, John has kept his job in spite of it not being his dream career, and therefore the two don't have to worry about money, which is a relief.

Sunday is Family Day whenever possible, and it certainly is possible for Sharon, who invites her sister, her brother-in-law and her nephew over. The Bells are greeted by John. 

But look - something must have gone wrong, otherwise why would the firefighter be here? 

Oh well... you guessed it, didn't you! Sharon burnt the family dinner and accidentally set the stove on fire, too. 

But don't worry, her, John and the entire Bell family are still around - it was just not the best Family Day ever, what with everyone needing showers and rests and so on after this. 

We will see the Bells early on next round, and of course get back to this household when it's John's turn on the list. I am glad they moved in together, and hope that he'll finally get into Journalism - and who knows, one or both of them might even roll the wish to get married.

John Mole - Week 1

After a relatively long stint in Bluewater Village, we are visiting Desiderata Valley again. 

The Sim to focus on this week is of course John Mole, seen here as a child with his parents James and Lucy. (Sorry about the tiny pictures - something went wrong with the pre-made pictures for John; while some pictures are intact, for others there is only a thumbnail in the folder, no snapshot.)

Next, Maxis shows us John as an angry teenager, talking to an elderly lady (his grandmother - we are to believe that she raised the boy after his parents, both high profile special agents, mysteriously disappeared). 

Here the two of them are again, John now grown up and obivously doing his Nana proud by following in the family tradition, also becoming a spy.

I am not certain who Maxis means for these people to be; maybe they are fellow spies, or the top agents who have been training him. 

Be it as it may, one day John sets eyes on Sharon Wirth (obviously at a museum or gallery), and is instantly smitten.

The last of the Maxis-made pictures shows him kissing Sharon's hand. In his relationship panel, she appears as his crush, and if you remember when I played the Bell family (where Sharon lives, Hannah Bell being her sister), they were sort of an item, too. 

Upon entering the lot, I find John at his telescope, obviously enjoying his spying. 

His family biography says that "watching others is what John does best. Will he finally learn to live his own life?" His personal bio elaborates, telling us that "John comes from a long line of highly intelligent, highly trained and mysteriously disappearing intelligence agents. Will he learn to live his own life rather than spying on others?" 

His house looks a little too small to be forbidding, but the garden is surrounded by a high wall, making it impossible for anyone walking by to look in.

Only the ground floor is playable. Through the front door is a sparsely furnished living room with a computer desk and book shelf. Clockwise, doors lead to the kitchen with a single chair at the small dining table squeezed into one corner, John's bedroom (holding no wardrobe but an exercise machine), to the back garden with its tiny pool and a telescope, and last but not least the bathroom. 

John has a little more than 3,000 Simoleons in cash. He currently works as a Crime Scene Investigator, but would love to become Media Magnate - suitable for a Popularity Sim like him.

Therefore, on this Monday I have him look for a job in the Media career. He does not find one and so shall remain in his current career for the time being. 

Trent Traveller and Tara Kat make up his welcome committee. By the time John has made a platter of sandwiches for his guests, moved the dining table and added another two chairs, Trent has already been in the pool and comes in for the meal in his wet swimming trunks. Tara pretends not to notice. 

Later, the phone rings and John is invited for an outing. I choose Will's Garage, since I can't remember when I last played this hobby lot. 

It was Robert Kim who invited John, and his wife and son (not pictured) are there, as well as an unknown townie who seems to like Cynthia. 

John makes a batch of hot dogs and afterwards joins the other visitors to the lot to watch some sports on TV. Although this is a hobby lot for those Sims who love tinkering, nobody does any tinkering at all - they just chat, watch TV, go to the toilet and so on. 

It is rather late when John says good-bye and takes a taxi home, having to work the next day. 

"How nice it would be if there was an opening in the media career today," John thinks when he wakes up on Tuesday morning. Alas, there is no opening for him, and he goes to investigate some more crime scenes instead. 

He is a diligent worker, and nobody would guess that he'd actually prefer to do something else. A promotion to Surveillance Operator is welcome for the bonus, if not for the career as such. 

He has not yet made it from the car pool to his front door when Sharon appears on her own accord. 

No need then to invite her over for a small celebration! John serves spaghetti with meat balls and pulls out a bottle of sparkling wine from the fridge. 

Good job that on Wednesday, John has to be at work only at 2:00 pm. This gives him enough time to do rake all the fallen leaves in front of the house and in the back garden into neat piles, and he even manages to eat a plate of yesterday's leftover spaghetti before the car pool picks him up. 

Thursday follows a similar pattern: Before work, John rakes leaves, trims the hedge and pays the bills. After work, he rings as many of his friends as he can before it is too late to make phone calls.

Friends feature high on his thoughts and wishes - he is a Popularity Sim after all.

On Friday morning, less out of a desire to advance in his current career and more because it is autumn, when Sims typically wish to gain skills, John acquires a mechanical skill point before work.

It pays off the same day - he returns with a promotion to Reconnaissance Communicator and the career reward, which he uses instantly until a message pops up, saying "This sounded a bit like a ghost", and he puts the device away on his own accord. 

Still in his PJ bottoms, John takes care of yet another hole that has been dug by a stray dog in his front garden on Saturday morning. 

After work, he invites one of his best friends over. Marcel Jocque brings along Issac Bell, whom John knows as Sharon's brother-in-law, of course. The men have a game of kicky bag before their host serves Mac & Cheese. 

John sleeps in on Sunday and then spends the rest of the morning catching up with house work. Now that it is winter and no leaves remain on the trees, he can well clear away the piles of leaves. 

He cleans the kitchen on his own accord and then feels ready to throw a party. 

And a party it is! While you can only see Sharon here, all his friends turn up: The Kims, Marcel Jocque, Edward Contrary, Natasha Una as well as the Bells. Shortly after this picture was taken, Sharon jumped into John's arms on her own accord, and their relationship went from "crush" to "in love". 

Pizza, anyone? 

The party is not a roof raiser, but everyone has a good time. Not even a clogged up toilet can dampen John's spirits when he goes to bed that night. 

He may not yet have found his dream job, but at the moment his friends seem to matter more to him than that. After his schedule did not allow for much time with them during the week, the party on Sunday was a good way to catch up with them all. 

Is his relationship with Sharon going to mean for them to move in together at some stage, and will he find a position in the media career eventually?