Vincent has Maid Problems

/

If you haven't read any of the Vincent Donaldson, I recommend starting here.

Vincent has been continuing to work on his publishing career, but kids and work make that sort of a difficult endeavor.

With so many kids (four now!). Vincent decided to take out a loan from the bank so that he could build an addition on their house (a new bedroom for the kids).

Thankfully, some of the kids were getting old enough where they could start to occupy themselves and each other, for periods of time.

Time moves so quickly, and soon it was time for Lillian to age up. 

Her transition to elder would mean she would not be able to have any more children.

The Donaldson's hired a maid to help get the housework done. Even with Lillian retiring, the four children and the housework were more than she could handle. 

Unfortunately, the second maid spent most of his time sitting down or watching television. At the end of the day, the house would still be a mess. 

Lillian tries to give each of the children individual attention so that they feel loved.

Now he's reading a book instead of working. How many breaks does this guy need a day?

Things were getting too cluttered in the old nursery, and Lillie would soon be old enough to need a real bed. They really needed to get the new nursery built soon.

Eventually, Vincent and Lillian gave up on the old made and hired a new one. This guy handled all the major problems, and then organized the books. I think he's a keeper!

Vincent Forgets to Pay the Bills

/

If you haven't read any of the Vincent Donaldson, I recommend starting here.

Vincent and Lillian has too much going on in their lives between careers and children, so they forgot to pay the bills.

The repo lady showed up and took a lamp in the nursery, and the toilet paper!

Finally, it was Lillie's birthday! They had a small gathering, but thankfully it was pretty mild compared to Vincent's birthday. Notice they have yet to replace the kitchen table that Vincent's cake burnt.

Lillie likes to make a mess in her high chair.

Here's Lillian eating leftover birthday cake for breakfast, while Edwin naps in the swing.

Lillian became pregnant once again. It was clear they needed more space in their house. However, no houses for sale in the neighborhood were bigger but affordable. Vincent decided to take out a loan to build an addition on their home.

Lillian cleans, while both the kiddos eat...(Edwin is hiding behind a chair). Sadly, on the evening of Edwin's birthday, Vincent and Lillian didn't get around to organizing a party until it was too late, and people couldn't attend. He transitioned without much celelbration.

Both Lillie and Edwin are learning to walk and talk. 

Screenshot-75.jpg

Edwin and Lillian enjoy playing blocks together at the play table. 

And playing peek-a-boo together in the playpen.

Vincent sets his Birthday on Fire

/

If you haven't read any of the Vincent Donaldson, I recommend starting here.

Screenshot-51.jpg

#parenting?

With two infants, two careers, and not much money, life has been very busy and challenging for the Donaldsons. For days, Lillian never actually went to sleep at night...she survived on micronaps whenever both of the children managed to be sleeping. Vincent helped when he could, but he had recently gotten a promotion at work that required him to be on call. Frequently, he'd have to go into the hospital in the middle of the night, but still have to get up the next morning to go in. Life was rough.

Fortunately, Lillian is able to save them money by being able to fix all of their old and cheap appliances. They break often, so this is important!

Vincent's birthday rolled around and they had a party. 

They invited all their neighbors and coworkers in the hopes that they could get to know some of them a bit better. They hadn't had time to make friends with anyone besides each other.

They provided the birthday cake and the pizza, but a few of their guests brought dishes such as lobster thermidor and stu surprise.

Screenshot-56.jpg

As Vincent was blowing out the cake, he managed to catch the kitchen table on fire.

Much to the shock of his guests, Vincent also caught on fire. The fire department was notified immediately and Vincent attempted to extinguish himself.

Lillian took a moment to admire the very attractive firefighter amid her concern for her husband.

The fire was put out and Vincent was safe. The table and cake were ruined, though. Interestingly, the insurance company also covered the cost of the destroyed birthday cake.

Vincent's transition proceeded after his flames were extinguished.

Poor accident-prone Vincent, in the center of attention!

After the excitement was over, the guests were able to laugh it off and move on. They did manage to form a few friendships before the evening was over.

Vincent has a Baby

/

If you haven't read any of the Vincent Donaldson, I recommend starting here.

Lillian continued working on her handiness while pregnant. She fixed the plumbing at the local diner for extra cash while on maternity leave.

Before we knew it, the baby was on its way!

Vincent was a little concerned she was going to have it in the middle of the living room (and possibly ruin his couch). 

Vincent was very excited to have Lillie in his life.

He also managed to make a plates of waffles without burning any, so it was a really good week!

Lillie was a pretty good baby, though they did have a lot of challenges getting enough sleep.

Lillian started exercising during her maternity leave to get in better shape to return to work in law enforcement.

When she did finally go back to work, they hired a sitter for Lillian.

Immediately after the birth of Lillie, they became pregnant again. Lillian soon gave birth to a baby boy, Edwin.

Vicent Gets Married

/

If you haven't read any of the Vincent Donaldson, I recommend starting here.

In my last post, Vincent went out on a limb and proposed to Lillian.

Lillian said yes!

Since neither of them had families, or even close friends, and they wanted to get started on their family right away, they got married the old-fashioned Sim way.

Right then...in the middle of the kitchen...with the smell of burned waffles in the air...and Lillian in her pajamas.

As it turns out, Lillian shares Vicent's lifetime aspiration. What she wants more than anything is to have a family of her own.

Getting started on the baby-making immediately was critical. As it turned out, Lillian was *much* older than Vincent.

While Lillian napped, Vincent attempted to make yet another batch of waffles.

Very quickly, Lillian was pregnant and in need of some trips to the local spa for back massages.

This is probably because she took an interest in repairing things and becoming handy. Vincent has the habitat of breaking things...particular faucets. Lillian has been learning how to fix them. She even took a class at the military base (while pregnant).

Vincent is still working on two careers...the dream writing career, and the career that will pay for his future family (medical). He decided to work on his logical thinking skills in order to increase his chance of getting a promotion at work, so he purchased a telescope.

Vincent Asks a Question

/

If you haven't read any of the Vincent Donaldson, I recommend starting here.

Vincent has been pursuing his alternative career as a science fiction writer by going to the library whenever he can.

Vincent started dating Lillian, the firefighter. Their first date was at the beach. 

They chatted and took a swim in the ocean. They got along very well and had a great time.

And they had their first kiss on the beach.

They continued to hang out. While they got along great, Vincent had a hard time getting Lillian to open up. (We couldn't figure out her traits!). Also, she was very hesitant at times...shy maybe?

Eventually, she did spend the night. Still, Vincent knew very little about her, and Vincent was hesitant to move things forward.

Writing classes were available at the local office downtown, so Vincent signed up for one to improve his writing. 

Vincent and Lillian went to the movies together on another great date. Vincent was quite convinced he was in love, and that the love was returned, but he still found her to be quite the mystery. He couldn't discern her traits or her aspiration.

Vincent invited her over to his place on another night for a home-cooked dinner of Goopy Carbonara. Sadly, he burnt that too, but he didn't care.

In the middle of his kitchen floor, the smell of burned food lingering in the air, Vincent took a chance and just asked Lillian to marry him. Vincent was sick of waiting and knew Lillian was the one.

Vincent Starts a Fire

/

If you haven't read Meet Vincent Donaldson, I recommend checking out that post first.

Vincent really wants to become immersed in his new community. He tries to attend community events, such as the chess tournament that took place at the bookstore.

He also received a phone call from City Hall (at 11:00pm!) asking if he'd write three books for a charity drive. He readily agreed. He hasn't published any of his work yet, and he thought that this could be a motivating opportunity.

I was excited when Vincent finally expressed an attraction to a Sim he saw at the library. Sadly, River was a bit too young for him.

Vincent has attempted to make waffles on three different occasions. Twice he burned them beyond the point of being edible.

The third time, he set the oven on fire. Vincent watches the cooking channel, and has read one instructional guide. Yet, he still causes destruction in the kitchen. He did end up panicking and running away from the fire, but I like how he took a minute to look at the camera and give me a "Really?" face. I'm not sure if it was a "Really? Again. I thought 'third times a charm'. Why can't I'm making these fr*gg*n' waffles," or if it was a "Really? You are taking a photo while I'm running for my life?"

While waiting for the fire department to put out the fire, we discovered the bath tub was broken...again (Vincent has already repaired it once).

Vincent stopped complaining when he met Lillian the firefighter, though. Apparently, he likes a girl in uniform!

They had a great conversation about a lot of different things...music, books, families...It was clear that she was really into him as well.

She stayed all day, and even for dinner. Vincent stuck with making a nice autumn salad (no need to make her work more!)

My Sims 3 Revival

/

This is a companion post to Meet Vincent Donaldson, as well as an update on A Sims 3 Experiment. 

I'm very much enjoying my return to The Sims 3. I had forgotten all the little things that make the game more interesting (and I've only been playing the base game!). I think I'm falling in love with the game all over again.

My plan (if I have enough patience) is to install a new expansion (there are 11) when the first Sim of a generation reaches their lifetime wish. If a second Sim achieves it, I'll install a bonus stuff pack. This will hopefully allow me to explore each expansion fully and appreciate the changes in the game. When any Sims has an age transition, I'll install some content from the store (it's smaller and I have a lot of it). I'm adding a new mod each real life day that I play up until I have all the ones that I want.

Vincent was a randomly generated Sim that I tweaked ever so slightly. The name, his traits and favorites were also randomly generated.

As usual, I'm letting my Sim run the show. Fortunately, Vincent is not boring. He immediately had the desire to get married, which I locked. He has also has had wishes relating to writing, reading, and logic. 

Vincent is:

  • friendly
  • a bookworm
  • unlucky
  • family-oriented
  • a couch potato

He loves salmon, latin music, and the color yellow. His lifetime wish is to raise 5 children from babies to teenagers.

Meet Vincent Donaldson

/

Vincent grew up in a foster home as one of many children. His foster mother was kind and did her best to provide Vincent with food, clothing and shelter. Vincent liked her well enough, and he couldn't complain. His childhood was fine.

On the other hand, Vincent's foster mom was a very busy woman and much of her attention was diverted to other children who had more complicated issues. Vincent was quiet and helpful, and often went unnoticed in the background. 

Vincent worked and saved enough money to buy a small home in Sunset Valley when he was old enough to leave. His deepest desire in life is to have a family of his very own. A close-knit, loving bunch. He can't wait to get married.

Sunset Valley was a perfect little town, in his mind. Nestled between grand mountains and the beautiful coastline. It was far different from the city he was raised in. 

On his first day in Sunset Valley, Vincent visited the park, and witnessed the most beautiful interaction: an elderly couple enjoying a picnic in the middle of the park. They had even dressed up for the occasion. True, perhaps they were on their first date, but Vincent had a hunch that they were married. 

While out exploring his new neighborhood, Vincent stopped to play chess while in the park. He knows improving his mind is an important endeavor. Honestly, though, he'd prefer to be sitting on the couch at home- he's a bit of a couch potato. But, he's excited about his new town.

Vincent took a job at the local hospital. He didn't really know what he wanted to do, but he likes helping people. He also knows doctors make good money. Money will be important for starting his new family.

He did have another idea, though. See, Vincent loves books. What if he could write them as well as read them? In his time off, he headed down to the library to borrow their computer to work on his writing skills.

A Sims 3 Experiment

/

For the last several months (maybe even longer), I've had a hard time completing Sims challenges that I start. Yes, I know I've never been good at seeing the challenges through, but I feel I used to be much better at carrying them on for a decent amount of time. I've also tried playing without a challenge or a goal of blogging, but that doesn't work either.

I has assumed it was because of my mood. For the past year or so, I've struggled to keep my spirits high as some life challenges (not the fun kind) were presented to us. We navigated a lot of them, and while they aren't all gone, we have more resources (both time and financial) to tackle the rest. My spirits have been on the rise. However, I find myself unmotivated to play the Sims 4.

I really want to play the Sims. It is, afterall, my favorite game of all time. However, I seem to be on this cycle of: being super excited about a new challenge, planning/dreaming about it, finally getting the time to play, and then not being able to commit for very long and stopping play altogether.

Then, I had an epiphany. As someone who has championed the Sims 4 from the start when confronted with the naysayers, it hadn't occurred to me that I might be trying to play the wrong version. I had firmly believed that the lack of content was because it was a base game and that I had felt exactly the same when the Sims 3 came out. The Sims 4 has been fine...it is a good game. It runs 10 times better than the Sims 3. The emotions are interesting. It's smoother. Lots are filled with more Sims. But something is missing...or maybe several somethings. My passion and enthusiasm for my favorite game of all time doesn't carryover to the Sims 4.

The realization of my problem came in two steps...first, the next expansion for the Sims 4 was leaked. City Life....meh. I'm sure it'll be GOOD just like Get to Work and Get Together were GOOD...but I'm a family player. My favorite expansions were Generations, Seasons, University and Pets. I want to play a realistic life story...I do not care about wealth, clothing, stardom, or parties. The current expansions would be fine if we had some of the other things the game is lacking. But they are continually producing content that I'm just sort of excited by. In the Sims 3, I was obsessing over some expansions. Also, toddlers are the cutest thing in any version of the Sims.

Next, I watched this video from the Lazy Gamer, which describes my feelings almost exactly.

After that, I started wondering if The Sims 4 is my problem. I headed over to the Sims 3 forums only to find a super active community with other simmers who had the same experience I did. They are all loving the Sims 3 again. I also found out the the Sims 3 store is still open.

So...tonight I'm going to be installing the Sims 3. I'm going to start with just the base game. At the suggestion of some other Simmers, I'm going to make a release schedule for myself with the additional content. That way I will have a constant trickle of new and interesting content, while not being overwhelmed (by content, loading time, or download/install time).

Of course, I will be blogging this experiment. And I'm certain I'm not done with the Sims 4. Who knows how long this will last, and if I still have any readers left, LOL.

I recall with great fondness Dumpster Dan and Brady the Mooch....I long for a revival of those good ole days.