Wednesday, May 24, 2006

 

A Little Night Music

You are all probably wondering if Sterling (remember him?) ever bothered to haunt the Ugmos. Actually, he was just as dormant in death as he was in life and the Ugmos nearly forgot about him. He made a couple of appearances after Esther married Amar. Then he simply rested. Oddly enough, when the youngest Ugmo became a child, he reappeared again. Perhaps because in rearranging the girl's room, I moved his portrait a slight bit, thereby subjecting him to more activity than he liked in life.


Its a fine time to figure out where the refrigerator is Sterling.



Sterling revisits the site of his unfortunate demise.






It will be interesting to see if he ever bothers to move around again. As you recall, he had a problem with this in life.

 

Crazy

Every family has a secret and in the Ugmo family, the secret is Marsha's slide into dementia.


Marsha acting out.











Floyd was loyal and supportive, and tried to reassure her of her innate hotness with smooches and attention.








But, when left to her own devices, she climbs into the bathtub again. As you can see, Floyd is concerned, but the family has agreed to mention this to no one and make sure Marsha doesn't drive the family car.






They thought a new hairdo and some makeup would cheer her up.

But then she started the exhibitionist phase of her illness and began walking around in her underwear.



Floyd realized he needed to get some relief from the constant stress and decided to find some company at Round Barn General Store.


In a brief moment of clarity, Marsha recognizes that her days of innate hotness are over.

 

Baby I'm a Want You

Amar and Esther quickly settled into married bliss. Their first child, a son, was born 3 days after their wedding (Esther is especially fertile). Esther wanted to name him Floyd, after her father, but Amar, who as you recall, had some *issues* with Floyd, refused. So, they compromised and named him Lloyd.










As you can see, Priscilla was initially ambiguous about the new family member, but she adjusted fine.







As as Family sim, Amar was overjoyed to have a child. He quickly found a military job in the Elite Forces, which eased the tension between him and Floyd. While they are not good friends, the constant bickering has ceased. Amar's LTW is to celebrate his Golden Anniversary, so any job was pretty much fine with him.

Before long, Lloyd was celebrating his toddler birthday. The adults had a little too much champagne with the cake and forgot to take his birthday picture. In fact, that champagne made Esther a bit frisky and she found herself pregnant again.

Amar was a conscientious father and took an active part in teaching Lloyd his basic skills. This was a blessing to Esther who suffered debilitating morning sickness with this third pregancy and really needed a break. And of course Floyd and Marsha pitched in too.




In the meantime, Priscilla was growing fast. She loved to study and quickly became a A plus student.





She celebrated her teen birthday and I apprehensively rolled the dice for her aspiration. Good luck, she is a knowledge sim with a LTW to become Chief of Staff. She is well on her way with her logic skills, but needs to bone up on mechanical and cleaning.



That is, if she can stay off the phone.





Priscilla looks quite a bit like her mother, but I believe she inherited Sterling's pointed chin. Lloyd, on the other hand, looks like his father and for the first time we have a blonde in the family.

Amar's genes must be especially strong, because the third (and final) addition to the Ugmo family, a daughter called Ursula, is also a blonde. Here she is as an infant.

Monday, May 22, 2006

 

Love The Second Time Around

Esther relied on Marsha and Floyd to babysit while she searched the downtown bars for a new love. She found no one who met her criteria (or mine) in the looks department. Then we remembered her friend Amar Rossi from college days. While he did not have Sterling's good looks, he did not have his personality disorder either. Esther invited him over for a visit and found that friendship quickly evolved into love (she was pretty lonely by this time, considering that Sterling barely spoke to her in the days before he died). Here is a photo of Amar, shortly after he agreed to move in with the Ugmos and transitioned from young adult to adult.



Yes, the overalls have to go. Even the Ugmos have standards.









Amar and Esther share a romantic interlude in their upstairs quarters.



Amar proposed quickly, but the two lovers agreed to wait until Priscilla was a bit older before going under the arch. On the night of Priscilla's birthday, they decided to take advantage of her long nap to marry. Esther was not going to take this step in the dark of night with no photos as she did with Sterling. She even made me buy a new wedding arch as she believed the last one was cursed.




Doesnt she look radiant?









After the marriage ceremony, the group went inside to celebrate Priscilla's transtion to child.












Then, the newlyweds retreated upstairs to enjoy their first woohoo together and conceived a child.


The only cloud on this otherwise clear horizon is Floyd's antipathy toward Amar. As you recall, he didn't like Sterling much either. The two have engaged in several poking matches and finally Amar loses his cool and slaps Floyd.














Amar better get a job that keeps him out of the house most of the day. Maybe that is what is getting under Floyd's skin. All I know is that no matter how often they apologize to each other, if they are left alone, the situation escalates to a physical altercation.

 

Daddy's Little Girl

Priscilla has no daddy, but Floyd was delighted with his first grandchild. It's hard to tell if she will look like Sterling or Esther at this point, but here is a heartwarming picture of Priscilla with Floyd and Esther. Floyd has vowed to be a good father figure for her and to make sure she knows where the refrigerator is when the time comes to feed herself.



Three Ugmo generations









Celebrating Priscilla's transition to toddler helped take Esther's mind off of her *grief* over Sterling. .







Getting ready to grow up.





Much to the Ugmo's relief, Priscilla did not inherit Sterling's peculiar ways. She was a perfectly normal toddler who learned her basic skill's quickly and enjoyed playing with her toys. In fact, she had so much attention (Marsha and Floyd kept bathing her even when it wasn't necessary) I worried about her getting any logic, charisma or creativity points as a toddler. She managed to get 3 points in each category between baths.




Floyd and Priscilla after one of her many baths.








Priscilla learns to talk (this was one of her fondest toddler dreams..she may have remembered her silent father)





Marsha even gave Priscilla a small makeover.



 

When I'm Sixty-Four

Sterling died on Marsha and Floyd's birthday. This did not prevent them from enjoying their respective celebrations as both were secretly relieved he was gone. I had no problem with Marsha growing up well, since she had achieved her lifetime wish. Floyd went on his last dream date the day that Sterling died, so he was platinum at the transition too. Here they are as elders.



Marsha is a bit dismayed at the look of her hands and wonders if Craig Futa will recognize she is still hot.




Floyd, a typical male sim, thinks he will be even more attractive to the opposite sex as an elder (he may be right, there are some gold-digging sims out there).


Since neither of them really loved their jobs that much (Marsha was ready to retire after her final promotion), they called work to collect their pensions. And, with Priscilla, their first grandchild, still an infant, and Esther pursuing her Hall of Famer career and trolling bars for a replacement for Sterling, they will be busy babysitting. I suspect their extra-curricular dating will be somewhat limited from now on.

Sunday, May 21, 2006

 

Our House


After the drama with Sterling, I thought you might like a little rest. I did not mention that Floyd and Marsha, even though they had more than their share of love trysts, managed to be quite successful in their careers. Marsha won the Steel Chef Competition and Floyd made a killing in his business by buying a fleet of trucks. Not only did he make a good sum of money, he was able to save the bribe the mayor demanded to approve a seaport. So, they were able to finally build a dream home. Its way too large for them now, but who knows who Esther may drag home tomorrow?
Something tells me she will not stop with Sterling. Although she is a Fortune sim, she needs a love life too.

Here is a picture of the Ugmo House.

 

Nowhere Man

Esther hoped once Sterling joined the family, his odd ways would end. Unfortunately, Sterling was unable or unwilling to engage in the most basic of life's activities without direction from me, the Master of Esther's universe. This is how Sterling spent his days.



Sterling standing around




Sterling unable to find a job









In the meantime, Esther found a job as a Coach, and struggled with morning sickness. Sterling would only speak when spoken to. He and Floyd argued, and Esther withdrew from Sterling, sensing she had made a colossal mistake in marrying so quickly.

Finally, the entire household and I, the master of their universe, became thoroughly sick of Sterling and left him alone.






He stood around some more.











He was starving but wouldn't go to the full refrigerator for food






While Sterling stood with his thumb up his posterior starving, Esther gave birth to Priscilla, their daughter. His mood elevated to platinum, so at least he was going happily if painfully. I allowed him to hold his daughter for a brief moment.


But it was too late for Sterling, the Grim Reaper arrived and Floyd and Marsha did not intervene with fate.





Sterling meets Grim






Esther, now a widow with a child, was at work when this *tragedy* occurred. She did not fear his death and because she was promoted to Hall of Famer (her LTW) on her first day on the job, her mood was actually improved. She didnt even mourn him at the tombstone (which was not platinum even though he died in the platinum zone...this is truly an aberrant sim).* She did begin a commemorative portrait of him for Priscilla to have when she becomes older.






Remembering Sterling







And then she drowned her sorrows at a local nightclub.










So much for Sterling, the nowhere sim.

*I have since learned that platinum tombstones only come with the sim dies of old age. Sterling was the first sim I have ever let die young and let me tell you it took all of my willpower not to make him feed himself.

 

Wedding Bell Blues

Esther rushed home from university and immediately invited Sterling over to introduce him to Marsha and Floyd. When he arrived, however, it was like they had never met. She could not get any interactions going with him beyond the basic ones she could enjoy with any stranger. This was alarming, and she struggled with what to do about it. She remembered he seemed more comfortable downtown. So, she sent him home and called him for a date.

When she arrived downtown, Esther was relieved to find Sterling had normal interactions and she invited him home after their date. She immediately went to the wedding arch (conveniently provided by me, the Master of Esther's universe,) and to her relief, he joined her there. They were married in haste in the dead of night. And you know what they say about that.

And, there are no photos of this occasion, as I was too busy figuring out how to get Sterling into the family. But they did enjoy some nice woohoo and Esther became pregnant.

 

Sisters Sisters

Esther and Clara (I cannot believe I dont have a picture of her to show you) came to university with lots of scholarship money. They were able to move from the dorm into a newly erected house on campus after their first semester. Since Clara's is in the first generation of a Legacy family to attend university, she decided to found a Greek House. Before long it was the biggest house on campus...Level 6.



The Legacy Greek House at Sim State University



Between pledging members, making friends, and maintaining straight A plus gpa's, Esther and Clara were too busy to pose for photographs. They reached their junior year as the most influential and popular sims on campus. Everyone wanted to be invited to pledge their house and it was always full of pledges and other friends.


Esther could not get Sterling off of her mind, however. She kept inviting him over but no matter how high her relationship score with him, he remained unresponsive and lackluster. He would stand on the curb staring into space for hours. Finally, she asked him out on a date and eventually provoked some sort of response from him.





Sterling falls in love.



Esther takes advantage of Sterling's more normal interactive state while downtown and proposes to him. He readily accepts and she is thrilled.




Esther floats through her senior year in a cloud, dreaming of good fortune and a happy and long life with Sterling. She graduates summa cum laude and heads back to Legacy ready to find her dream job and marry her one true love.



Esther on graduation day...the joy is written all over her face.

 

Puppy Love?


Esther moved into a dorm with another Legacy II heir, Clara Abraham. Clara was thrilled to see a friendly face and wasted no time in setting up Esther with her friend Sterling Thayer. When you see Sterling's face, you will understand why this meeting was fate.





Unfortunately, Sterling was rather dull. He didn't respond to normal sim interactions and just stood around a lot. But Esther thinks hes a hunk so we will have to work with him as he is.

 

She's Leaving Home

Esther worked hard at all her skills, and left for College with several scholarships. Floyd and Marsha were sad to see her go, but happy to enjoy a little quiet time together. I think their selfish pursuit of pleasure and woohoo has about ended. It has certainly exhausted me. I'm even looking forward to playing Esther at university. Anything is more interesting than these endless dates. You haven't seen half of them, so thank your lucky stars.



So long Esther!




Happy together.


You might note that Floyd has gained a bit of a paunch. I decided to let him keep it as just punishment for his sybaritic ways.

 

Sixteen Candles

Once Esther realized that Marsha and Floyd were not breaking up over Marsha's date with Craig Futa, she settled down to her studies and skilling. By the time she celebrated her teen birthday she was consisently making straight A's and had nearly maximized logic and creativity. Thank the sim gods, when it came time to roll the dice, I got a high number. Esther is a Fortune sims with a life time wish to become a Hall of Famer. Marsha and Floyd didn't own any body equipment, so they gave Esther a treadmill for her birthday. She will be spending a great deal of time on that thing. With a face like hers, she needs all the body skills she can manage to learn.





Happy Birthday Esther!









She isnt that bad with makeup, which was a little disappointing to me. Maybe she will improve with age.

 

Your Cheating Heart


Because I did not get Floyd his sportscar after the last promotion, I thought I would cheer him up by sending him on a date with one of his coworkers. (I know, its not a good idea for someone in Floyd's position, but I don't think the EEOC will find out about this.) Unfortunately, Lindsay (the hat sim) caught him. She was not pleased.



Being Floyd, he quickly brushed that encounter off, and proceeded to enjoy another dream date.

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