Round 7 Part 8: Paradisio (2053-2057)

Donte is 45, Gretchen is 38, Emerson is 10, and Shelley is 7.

"Let It Go"

narrated by Emerson Whitfill 

You guys would legitimately not believe how sickeningly cute and boring my life is.

I mean, I hang out with the neighborhood kids...

I play with my sister...

I go to school. That's it.

I think even my dad is bored sometimes--at any rate, he keeps switching jobs. He was a scientist a few years ago, but now he's a chef, and I think that's his fourth or fifth career. I think Mom's on her third. She's a doctor now, and before that she was a teacher, and when I was a baby I think she did something else but I don't remember what that was.

They're not bored with each other, though. When they're not at work they have their little hobbies they do together and they talk to each other and I seriously have no idea what they still have to talk about after twenty-something years.

The only really exciting thing is that I finally became a teenager.

Mom took me shopping for new clothes and helped me learn to use makeup, though she rations the stuff out something awful. What's the point of wearing makeup if it's so "natural" and "subtle" that nobody can tell?

Well, I guess there was also the time I broke Dad's new candy machine, but that was not so much "exciting" as "new carpet coming out of your allowance." Good thing I have a big allowance!

Notes:

1. I played this household in April of 2013. I'm really just churning out these updates so I can move on to actual recent stuff. All my notes say is that Gretchen became Education Minister at some point this round, rolled the LTW to become Chief of Staff, and got a job as a surgeon. 

2. Emerson is Romance with the LTW to have 20 Loves. Ugh. She's turned on by formalwear and cleaning skill but turned off by cooking skill. I guess she wants somebody who will clean up nice, put on a suit, and take her out to a fancy restaurant!

3. You might notice that the names up top don't have links to profiles. That's because my toddler apparently decided his New Year's resolution involved staying up until 1 a.m. and/or screaming for no apparent reason in the middle of the night. So blogging time has been scarce. I'm working on the profiles and should have them up and linked in the next few days if anyone cares.

Week Six Part Eight: Paradisio

Donte Whitfill: 38 years old. Aspiration: Knowledge. LTW: Become City Planner (fulfilled: Become Education Minister). Astrological sign: Aquarius.
Gretchen (Dejackome) Whitfill: 31 years old. Aspiration: Knowledge. LTW: Max All Skills. (fulfilled: Become Criminal Mastermind). Astrological sign: Aries.
Emerson "Emmy" Whitfill: 3 years old. Astrological sign: Sagittarius.

Family trees:

"Reflections"

narrated by Gretchen Whitfill

Donte and I welcomed our second daughter, Shelley Beatrice Whitfill, on April 14, 2045. She was the spitting image of her older sister, Emmy, who was 2 1/2 at the time.

I worked for Malcolm Landgraab's imports business back then, but I took a leave of absence in order to be a stay-at-home mother to the girls while they were small. I was also figuring on studying for the SKILL test, but it turns out that taking care of a toddler and an infant is pretty time consuming.

Fortunately, we had a great support system. In addition to our siblings, Elise Kules, one of Donte's college friends, came over a lot. Her daughter Priscilla is just a few months older than Emmy and she has a son as well who was pretty young at the time, but I guess she liked being around a baby or something. I wasn't looking a gift horse in the mouth.

Donte worked a lot, but he made sure to spend plenty of time with his daughters as well. He's an excellent father and just loves to teach them things.

A few months after Shelley was born, he felt like he had done everything he wanted in the architecture world, so he switched to working for a game design company.

The girls grew up so fast...before we knew it, it was time for Emmy to start kindergarten.

Meanwhile, Shelley took her sister's place as the resident rampaging toddler. I love my kids, but they sure can get into things.

It was important to us that Emerson get the best education possible, so we enrolled her in my alma mater, Bluewater Academy. Donte went to public school himself, but he was suitably impressed by the headmaster's educational philosophy.

Donte enjoyed working in gaming, but after only two years he quit that job and became a scientist. He's already talking about getting into journalism after he accomplishes some things in the scientific field. I think he might be trying to excel at every career that exists...

I was still staying at home with the girls and studying for my SKILL test, but my heart defnitely isn't in the whole homemaker thing. A lot of the time, Emmy would get up and get herself some cookies or something for breakfast--I never feel up to doing more than fixing some cereal in the mornings. It makes me think back to all the awesome pancake breakfasts Aunt Mel used to make for my siblings and me...I have no idea how she kept up a career AND paid so much attention to four kids.

Soon Shelley was old enough for kindergarten too. We got her into Bluewater Academy with Emmy easily.

The older she got, the more obvious it was that she, like Emmy, looks just like Donte (though with my eye color). I'm honestly surprised that I feel disappointed. I was adopted, and so was Donte, so you'd think I'd be pretty firmly aware of the fact that it isn't sharing blood or looking alike that makes you family. Still, feelings are what they are, and I do wish one of the girls looked more like me. Not enough to have a third child and start the diaper phase all over again, though.

Anyway...the girls had been raising a ruckus for a while about not being "allowed" to share a room. Almost all of their cousins share, and they seem to think it's some kind of awesome privilege. Personally, I shared a room with my two sisters all through our growing-up years and if I hadn't gotten married I'd have happily never shared a room again. I guess the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. Anyway, we let Shelley move into Emmy's room and turned the old nursery into a playroom. So far the girls seem to sleep well and don't fight any more than usual, so I guess that's a success. We'll see if they want to switch back when they're teenagers...

I finally got a 100% on my SKILL test shortly after Shelley started kindergarten...it's amazing how hard it is to study with little kids underfoot. Shortly thereafter, I ended up resigning from my position with Landgraab Enterprises and took a job as a guest lecturer at Sim State. It's just a little more stable, and I've got two kids to think of now.

When he wasn't working, Donte was tinkering around on the robot bench we've had since we were first married. I've never made much more than toy robots on there, but Donte decided he was going to make a full-sized one, with far more complicated AI. The "servo", as he calls it, is programmed to do chores and childcare and other such household tasks. It's also capable of holding a realistic conversation. Naturally, he programmed it to frequently tell him how awesome of a scientist he is. The servo is called Asimov, after one of Donte's favorite authors. I'm kind of glad we didn't have a son; could you imagine a real boy named that?

I guess that's about it. It's summer now, so the girls are out of school and have been enjoying our pool. They're bright, well-behaved children; our jobs are going well; our marriage is just about perfect...life is pretty good.

The downstairs at the end of the week: All the walls are in place, and the kitchen and dining room are state-of-the-art. The Whitfills can't afford to furnish the living room yet, though. The big room on the right is a sort of hobby/study/craft room. You can also just see a bathroom behind the stairs.

Upstairs is about the same. Gretchen and Donte have a private study next to their bedroom, and then in back we have the girls' bedroom and the playroom. 

The outside looks pretty much the same as last round, just with a servo sunning himself on the lawn.

Notes:

Yes, Emmy and Shelley are clones. *sigh* I really need to remember to jiggle the randomizer before babies are born. At least they're cute...

When Donte became a City Planner, that was TOC #3 and LTW #2 for him. Then he became a Game Designer--TOC #4 and LTW #3. His new LTW is to become a Media Magnate, but I put him in Science because the career reward is better. I'm kind of curious to see how many careers he'll be able to top in his lifetime, even though I only got points for the first two (Business and Education).

Gretchen fulfilled her second LTW (Max all skills) and rolled the want to become Education Minister. I let her get a job in Education because I have grand plans of letting Emmy take a Bookshelf of Education to college with her. Donte already earned one, so Gretchen's will be the spare for Emmy to take.

The scene with Elise was total gameplay...she just walked in without being greeted and fetched Emmy out of her crib while Gretchen was busy with the baby. I checked relationship panels and realized she was BFFs with Donte (that's why she could walk in uninvited), which confused me until I remembered that they went to college together. I need to start holding class reunions or something so I can foster these relationships.

Week Five Part Eight: Paradisio

Donte Whitfill, 31 years old. Aspiration: Knowledge. Lifetime Want: Become Education Minister. Astrological sign: Aquarius.

Gretchen Dejackome, 24 years old. Aspiration: Knowledge. Lifetime Want: Become Criminal Mastermind. Astrological sign: Aries

Donte's family tree. He is the second (adopted) son of founder Larita Whitfill. The Whitfill family is slowly growing from its humble beginnings. 

Gretchen's family tree. She is the oldest (adopted) daughter of founder Rivka Dejackome. The Dejackome clan is currently the smallest in the neighborhood. (Jeannie is engaged to her college sweetheart, Timothy Seifert; they will star in Week Five Part Ten.)

Immediately after graduating college, Gretchen Dejackome followed the example of her housemate, Millie Landgraab, and cohabitated with a Whitfill boy instead of moving back home.

They held the wedding the following winter. Since the weather was poor they set up an arch in the living room; fortunately there was just enough room for all the guests.

After the ceremony they cut the cake.

Then they cleared away the chairs and had some dancing.

Then it was time for their honeymoon. They decided to go to the Far East instead of having a tropical honeymoon like Blake and Millie.

Once they returned they quickly settled back into their studies.

(Note to my fellow simmers: A Knowledge/Knowledge pairing creates possibly the most boring marriage ever. Also, please note that the last picture is Donte's official "max all skills" pic. Yeah, I was triple-speeding and missed the memory icon, so you get a thought-bubble.)

After a couple of years Gretchen found out she was pregnant, so she occupied herself for 6 months with learning all of Donte's recipes and tinkering instead of working for Malcolm Landgraab's...imports business.

Meanwhile, Donte was appointed Education Minister. He enjoyed the work, but soon decided that it was time to try something new and took a position as an architect. Gretchen didn't mind his career-hopping, since he made handsome salaries no matter where he worked. 

(LTW #1 and TOC #2 for Donte. New LTW: Become City Planner. I let him go for it even though I only get points for 1 LTW and 2 TOCs)

Their daughter, Emerson, was born a few days before Christmas, almost exactly 3 years after her parents' wedding.

Gretchen was able to go right back to work and soon was as high in the business as Malcolm Landgraab himself. 

(I think it's funny that the Criminal Mastermind is queasy.)

She and Donte decided that there wasn't any reason they shouldn't try for a second child as soon as possible. Emerson wasn't yet 2 when Gretchen found out she was pregnant again, due in the springtime. 

(Emerson and her sibling are 3 days apart, which means 3 calendar years, but thanks to Random.Org and December birthdays I sometimes get 2-year gaps.)

Random cute: Emmy is a tiny female version of her father, and they love each other.

Despite all the busyness of careers and family, Gretchen and Donte still found time to spend together. And Donte still remembered that salmon was her favorite.

Donte: "That outfit looks lovely on you, darling!"

(I was so irritated that Gretchen didn't get pregnant in time to have her second baby by the end of the round. She gave birth first thing in Week Six. You'll have to wait until then to see the baby.)

House shots time! 

Donte and Gretchen did a major renovation of his bachelor pad once they got back from their honeymoon. The downstairs is very bare because they couldn't afford furniture after putting in the pool and everything.

The upstairs is a little better. There's room for 4 bedrooms and 4 baths; right now there's a master suite (with balcony access), a nursery with a potty chair in the attached bathroom, an office, an empty bedroom, and two empty bathrooms.

And here's the exterior. I was going for a bit of an Unhappy Hipsters vibe.

This is what I think of as the Wall of Awesome. So far it has Donte's Tinkering plaque and Donte and Gretchen's college diplomas. Eventually I aspire to have all the possible hobby plaques (I think there are 10) and there will probably also be many college diplomas belonging to future generations of Whitfills.

And this is just a detail shot that I love. The bouquet is from Donte and Gretchen's first date; the souvenirs are from their honeymoon.