Week One Part Three: Riedmayer Cove

Although they were the largest family in town, the Riedmayers had a little more money to begin with and thus were able to construct a small but comfortable shelter immediately. They also had the advantage of having many wage earners. Jack got a job in the entertainment career track. Elwood and Edith became file clerks at a law office. Joan got a job which she prefers to forget. It was hard for the twins to balance school and work. Edith began getting D's in school but good reviews at work. Joan began getting B's but was fired from her job due to poor performance. Fortunately she was able to get another job in the journalism track which suited her better.

Life was not all gloom for the struggling twins, though. They still found time for fun activities like having a water balloon fight in the rain. While wearing their work clothes.










Meanwhile, Elwood was invited on an outing by his acquaintance, Rivka Dejackome. She had told him about her struggles to save up money to adopt children, and he decided to give her a little gift while on their outing. She was delighted. Elwood gave a similar gift to Rivka's best friend, Larita Whitfill, who was also planning to adopt. Larita looked shocked but accepted the gift.

After the exchanges were complete, Elwood enjoyed a game of chess with Rivka.


At the same outing, Elwood met a young, beautiful woman named Jill Smith. He decided that maybe remarriage wouldn't be so bad after all and invited her out on a date. She accepted and they had a lovely dinner, but Elwood soon discovered that she was not interested in settling down and starting a family, so he left the date disappointed.






Beata had a lifelong dream to join the military, but no opportunities presented themselves, so she stayed home and cared for Francine. Around the time Francine started school, Beata found time to pursue a relationship with Malcolm Landgraab IV, a handsome young man she'd met through her best friend, Brittanie Kules.

The two hit it off immediately and soon Beata invited Malcolm to move in. The more the merrier, right? Elwood was pleased at the idea of another wage-earner in the house, but when he found out that Malcolm couldn't actually use his inheritance money to improve his father-in-law's house, Elwood began to hint that the happy young couple should find their own place.

Beata wanted to have a huge party for her wedding, but then she discovered that she and Malcolm would soon be welcoming a little Landgraab--at least, it would be a little Landgraab if they managed to tie the knot in time. So they spent five months planning a small but pretty wedding, which was held in the front yard. Just the family was in attendance...well, and Elwood's girlfriend Jill. Not having any other prospects, he had decided to rekindle that relationship.



Although they had no DJ, the girls enjoyed an impromtu dance party.

The very morning after the wedding, Beata, Malcolm, Edith, Joan, and Francine all packed up their things and piled into a taxi.








Meanwhile, Elwood managed to convince Jill to marry him immediately rather than waiting. After all, the wedding arch was still right there in the yard! They were married privately, with only Elwood's brother Jack as a witness. Elwood had fond hopes that his new bride would produce more young Riedmayers in short order.







At exactly 8:01 on Monday, the Riedmayer house still had only 3 rooms: A great room some kitchen appliances and countertops, a dining table, and various skill-building objects; a bedroom with a double bed for Elwood and Jill and a single bed tucked in a corner for Jack; and a small bathroom that was almost constantly in use while there were 7 people living in the house. However, they did have hardwood floors and paint on the inside walls and siding on the outside, so they weren't doing too badly.

Beata's marriage to Malcolm was a really great move for a lot of reasons: 1) It redirected Malcolm's desire to marry Brittanie. (Romance Sims hate getting married. It's actually best to have your Romance Sims only woo other Romance Sims, because then they both understand that the relationship is totally devoid of commitment and you don't get a couple with opposing wants.) 2) It brought about $28,000 into my neighborhood net worth, plus the money Malcolm has earned since then. (You would not believe how easy it is to play a two working adults, even with several children. [Though I have had a lot of success with the breadwinning father + stay-at-home mother model.]) 3) It cleared out the Riedmayer home so that I had room to attempt to perpetuate the male line.

Elwood's marriage to Jill was not so smart, because now I have another Sim whose lifetime want is to have 20 lovers. Blah. It seemed like a good idea at the time, because she was young enough and he was old enough that she could have 2-3 children and then he would die and she would have the rest of her life to fulfill her want. But then I just plain got sick of playing Romance Sims. However, I should save all that for the next Riedmayer installment.