Here we are, the end of the challenge.  This is a dump of my screen (cropped a bit) just seconds after Emma fulfilled her lifetime wish, to get 10 points in both handiness and logic.

The forum posting where I got the idea for this challenge had a scoring system, just to see how you do, and I hadn’t planned on keeping score, but I got curious and decided to see how well I did.  The only thing I didn’t track was how many Sim days it took to reach Emma’s lifetime wish, so I’ll estimate 20, it should be close to that.  With that, I ended up with 405 points, more than anyone else on the forum posted.  I had no deaths, all my teens had either an A or B grade in school, they all had fairly high Lifetime Reward points, and Anthony had a ton of friends.

As for the future of this game, I plan to turn on aging, start controlling the teens a little, wait for them each to hit adulthood and kick them out of the house.  I’ve thought about having Hannah and Isabella stay since they’re such interesting characters to watch.  After that, I’m not sure.  I may have Emma adopt a couple teens, to keep the house for troubled teens thing going, I may try to marry her off, which should be interesting with two crazy people in the house with her.  I guess I’ll just see what happens.  I will keep posting, though.

There hasn’t been much excitement in the game lately.  The teens do a lot of sitting around and watching TV after school, that is, when they aren’t waving their arms and stomping their feet to get into the bathroom.  The old computer broke so I sold it and upgraded the TV.  No one used that old computer much anyway and the TV broke every time someone watched it, so I considered this a good investment.  This screen shot was taken after Abigail and Olivia skipped school to sit and watch TV all day, then they sat and watched TV all night.

This is what Isabella was working on in the last picture.  Odd little painting, it’s hanging in one of the bedrooms right now.

I let Emma walk around town some one day and she made a new friend.  They stood outside the book store and made faces at each other for two Sim hours, then Emma went home.  How awkward.

Isabella broke curfew again to fight with this girl.  I wonder why they hate each other so much?  They stood around and yelled at each other again, then Isabella slapped her twice before the cop showed up to take her home.

Despite the blackening she got one night, Emma still loves her job.  Her mood meter is green most of the time she’s working, more than it is at home.  She is now (I think) level six, she may have been promoted again and I didn’t notice, she is a pastry chef.  Still working nights and still much less stressed than she was before.  She is less than a quarter of a point from maxing out both her logic and cooking and she’s hit two points in charisma.

Looks like the challenge will be over soon and I actually think I’m going to miss it.  When I started I hated this game, it seemed to move so slow and the teens were obnoxious, I felt like I would never finish and playing was so boring.  I know I haven’t posted much about my game here, but really not that much has happened.  I think once the challenge is over I’ll start controlling the teens some to try to make it more interesting.

Hannah finally finished her painting and here is the final result.  It is every bit as strange as I thought it would be.  I hung it in one of the bedrooms.

I forgot that Hannah isn’t the only teen with a hobby, Anthony is a level 8 guitar player.  He plays for at least a couple hours every night and all the teens stand and watch like they’re hypnotized.  I don’t know why the guitar has such an effect on them but it’s kind of annoying.

One night while I was watching Abigail talk to herself in the bathroom mirror, I looked out to the living room to see what was going on and saw this.  Ryan has the flirt trait so he flirts with everyone.  We’ve seen him make out with Isabella before, but he keeps using pick up lines on Hannah and he’s tried to kiss her a few times but she won’t let him.  I guess cuddling on the couch with Anthony is the next best thing.  He is a good guitar player.  And those suspenders are hot (*snort*).

And then this happened.  Well, that’s interesting.  Should make for some good drama between Ryan, Anthony, Isabella and Hannah.

Isabella is the only one of the teens who has broken curfew and she’s done it about four or five times.  Her favorite place to go is the gym, but this night she went to a neighbor’s house and started a fight.  They yelled at each other, made faces, crossed their arms, then Isabella hauled off and slapped the other girl.  None of this seemed to bother anyone else in the house, they just stood around talking.

Fighting over, Isabella ran out, plopped down in a chair and promptly fell asleep while a few other people stood around talking, not seeming to notice that she was there.  Maybe they felt sorry for her?

Midnight is curfew for teenagers in the Sims, and she got picked up again.  The cop showed up at the neighbor’s house and gave her a ride home where Emma lectured her and when that was done they all went to sleep.

I’ve played three or four Sim days since this incident and she has been in before curfew every night.  Getting picked up by the police continues to be a topic of conversation between her and Emma, though, even during their nightly chess match.

Emma is doing much better since she quit her office job.  I had her take a job on the Culinary track and she quickly moved to level 2, she’s now a Spice Runner.  Her mood bar stays green more, she likes her coworkers and her boss, and she’s always smiling when she gets home.  The downside is the hours are 3pm to 9pm, which is breaking one of my rules, that she has to work while the teens are at school.  A few appliances broke and while doing repairs, she maxed out her handiness skill and I’ve been having her play chess for a couple Sim hours every night and she’s up to a level 9 in logic, the challenge part of the game is just about over.

Yes, this does mean there was another house fire, a mere four Sim days after the first.  This started very early in the morning and burned for about six hours, with a crowd of neighbors standing around watching, before a fireman showed up to put it out.  I almost wish the house had burned completely down just to see if the teens would react to it, because they didn’t even seem to notice the house was on fire when they got home from school.

Michael has started working out in front of the TV every night.  He somehow manages to break the TV every time, but that is good since Emma has to fix it and that raises her handiness.  She’s up to 8 handiness and 7 logic now.

Hannah continues to talk to herself.  Looks like she wasn’t having a very pleasant conversation, either.  I think it was about music.

She is also the only of the teens who seems to have a hobby beyond watching TV or playing catch.  She worked on the painting for a little while but abandoned it to take a sponge bath in the sink.  I’m curious to see the finished painting.

Then there is this, Isabella and Ryan making out in their pajamas in the back yard.  I totally didn’t see that coming.

I also had Emma quit her job at the corporate towers, she was miserable, constantly stressed out and didn’t like the people she worked with.  Every day her job performance went down a little and she would come home with a big frown on her face and a red mood meter.  I let her take a couple days off but now it’s time for a new job.  Since she’s a natural cook I think I’ll try something in the culinary field.

This is what happens in the Sims3 when one of your Sims goes to school and leaves a pan cooking on the stove.  My house has no fire alarm so once the fire started it kept burning and spreading.

And it continued to spread.  From the kitchen to the living room.  It, amazingly, didn’t damage anything outside of the kitchen, just two counters, the stove and the sink.

This is what happens when your Sims come home and their house is on fire.  They stand in the street and look the other direction.  No one even tried to call the fire department or put out the fire themselves.  They didn’t even come near the house, just stood there and looked down the street.

After a few minutes I had Emma call a fireman, who promptly came and put the fire out.  I got a message that the insurance company gave them §200 and it took about four times that to replace everything.  Once the fire was out, Emma cleaned up and the teens, well, they never even acknowledged the fact that their house had been on fire.  Typical.

Hannah Paints

I’ve played a Sim week since I last posted, so here’s some quick highlights.  Hannah is painting.  She is the first of the teens to even touch the easel that’s been sitting in the living room since the game started.  She painted about this much and hasn’t touched it since.

Sink Bath

Some of the teens (namely Hannah and Michael) have stopped showering, choosing instead to take sponge baths in the kitchen sink.  Hannah has also been wearing a bathing suit to school and sleeping in her formal dress.  Abigail has started sneaking up on the other teens and scaring them.  Isabella keeps randomly insulting people, but she has quit sneaking off to the gym after school, she just works out in front of the TV at home.

Sink Broke, Again

And, of course, everything has been breaking.   Here the sink broke after Emma left for for work and flooded about half the living room and the whole kitchen, plus the computer broke.  The shower has broken twice and the toilet keeps clogging but I did replace the fire damaged grill.   Emma’s handiness is at eight now and her logic is up to five, she’s been playing a lot of chess in the evenings and she’s working on upgrading all the appliances to unbreakable.

Emma has been promoted, she’s no longer a coffee courier but is now a filing clerk and the household account reached §1000 for the first time.  I would say that things are going really good for Emma, but she spends most of her time stressed out and fixing broken appliances.  The only time she seems to have fun is when she is either playing chess or cooking.

I realized today that once Emma maxes out her handiness and logic points, my challenge is over and I can end my game.  I think I’ll turn aging back on and play until all the teens have become young adults so I can have the pleasure of kicking them out of the house.  I’m actually starting to enjoy the game now and it’s almost over.

Upgrading

Poor Emma.  She got to spend her entire weekend fixing broken appliances.  Her handiness is finally high enough that she can do upgrades, so I sent her off to upgrade the stove to self-cleaning.  Not long after she started, the shower broke.  It always seems like everyone in the house has to use the bathroom at the same time, so she waited until all the kids had gone, and while the floor got covered in water from the shower, to start her repairs.  The shower was a quick fix but then she realized the toilet was clogged.  Another quick fix and she went back to upgrading the stove.  Then the computer broke.  After fixing it she was finally able to complete her upgrade on the stove and then the sink decided it would be a good time to spout water all over the kitchen.  After fixing nearly every item in the house, she collapsed in bed.  The rest of the weekend was spent resting, watching TV, reading books, playing chess.  Emma’s logic and cooking skills are at level 3 and her handiness is at 5 now.  Getting closer to meeting that lifetime goal.

Broken Shower

I haven’t had time to play Sims this week, but I fit in a couple hours yesterday.  Emma is not having fun.  She started her new job as a coffee courier at the corporate towers but there is so much to do at home that she hasn’t been getting enough sleep.  After an unremarkable morning and a calm day at work, she came home to a trashed house, dishes everywhere, a puddle in the bathroom, TV and computer blaring and a house full of teenagers.  There was a pile of bills out in the yard but her paycheck for day was just enough to cover them, thankfully.  She did the dishes and started some Goopy Carbornara for dinner but in the middle of cooking the shower broke.  Unfortunately, she doesn’t have enough handiness to fix it herself, so there was another chunk of her paycheck spent on a repair man.

Sponge bath in the kitchen

Cooking took a very long time since Hannah decided to strip down and take a sponge bath in the kitchen, she kept shooing everyone out of her way.  Hannah’s behavior is very strange.  She’s been bathing in the sink, starting fights, going to school in her pajamas and sleeping in her clothes, and freaking out a lot.

Talking to dinner

She also talks to her dinner.  She’s my favorite to watch because I never know what she’s going to do.  Remember, her traits are insane, inappropriate, neurotic and charismatic so she’s a bit unhinged.

After dinner, everyone went to bed.  The next morning was uneventful again, until I realized that Michael had skipped school.

Skipping to brush your teeth?

He spent the day brushing his teeth, showering, doing homework and dishes and playing games on the computer.

The teens all came home, did the rest of their dishes and homework, took turns showering and a couple even cleaned the shower, and even got their own dinner.

Funny faces

Abigail spent the evening in her pajamas making faces at herself in the mirror.

Sneaking to the gym

Isabella didn’t come home again after school, choosing to hit the gym again.  She did make it home before curfew this time, though.

Fire!

And Olivia sat the grill on fire, at 3am.

Emma managed to cook for the teens (with some prompting) and raised her cooking skill to level two.   Everyone made it to school without any problems and then they came home, did their homework, ate and went to bed.

Hannah wears bathing suit around the house

The one strange thing that happened is that Hannah wore her bathing suit around the house and her formal dress to school.  Isabella kept sneaking up on Olivia and scaring her.  It was fairly uneventful.

The next day got a little more interesting.  Everyone got up and off to school and a challenge popped up for Emma, for a cooking contest.  I had her make up some Autumn Salad and head off to the diner and she, happily, won the contest.  It’s a good thing, too, because there were bills due and not enough money in the family account.  She managed to pay the bills and have $13 leftover.

Emma had a wish pop up to join the business career and since money is so tight I had her go to the office tower and take a job.

The sink broke already

When she got back home and started cleaning, the sink broke, which was easily fixed (and raised her handiness skill to one point), and she and the teens went on with their evening ritual of dinner, homework, playing tag in the yard, and watching TV.

Isabella stayed out after curfew.

A few hours later, while every one was getting ready for bed, a cop car pulls up and Isabella jumps out.  She got picked up for breaking curfew.  Emma yelled at her for a minute, Isabella yelled back, then grabbed her stomach and the icon for hungry popped up, she then ran into the yard, picked up a clump of dirt, ate it and then did the evil laugh.  Wha?