Round 7 Part 7: Riedmayer-Todd Estate (2053-2057)

Edith is 61 years old, Thomas is 51, Todd is 19, Fritz is 15, Charles is 12

"Mine"

narrated by Thomas Dai

Well, Todd went to college a while back.

So now it's just Edith and me and the two younger boys at home.

And sometimes I swear the house is empty, with how quiet it is, and then I find them both sitting in their school uniforms and studying! I sure never did that much studying when I was a teenager.

The only real excitement we've had is when some guy tried to steal our car, but even that wasn't a big deal--the alarm went off, a cop showed up, and the wannabe thief got hauled off to jail.

I was reluctant to leave them after that, but Edith really wanted to go on a sort of delayed honeymoon--we never got one when we were first married--so we went.

I still think we might as well have stayed home. We spent most of the time watching TV.

And *ahem* taking naps.

Edith says she had a great time relaxing, though.

And I can't say I minded having a chance to get caught up on the latest novel.

Plus, we got to eat things that weren't our cooking or takeout pizza! We aren't either of us great cooks, so that was definitely nice.

But as much as I enjoyed the time with just Edith, I was glad to come back to our boys at the end.

Notes:

1. For those of you just tuning in: Thomas is not the biological father of Edith's kids, but the two younger boys were 3 and not-yet-born when their father left and about 6 and 3 when Thomas came along, so he's the only dad they've ever known.

2. My favorite thing about having custom hairs in my game is that I can do different shades of gray for elders. You might have noticed in my last update that Joan and Greg had dark gray hair while Beata (15 years older and a natural blond) had pure white hair. In this update, I feel like Edith's darker hair helps play down the age gap between her and Thomas. He is quite a bit younger, but not so much that she should have white hair while his is still red!

Week Six Part Seven: Riedmayer-Todd Estate

Edith Riedmayer: 54 years old. Aspiration: Pleasure (formerly Fortune). LTW: Have 50 Dream Dates. Astrological sign: Capricorn.
Thomas Dai: 44 years old. Aspiration: Popularity. LTW: Become Media Magnate. Astrological sign: Leo.
Ingrid Riedmayer: 17 years old. Aspiration: Fortune. LTW: Become Chief of Staff. Astrological sign: Gemini.
Todd Riedmayer: 12 years old. Aspiration: Pleasure. LTW: Have 50 1st Dates. Astrological sign: Gemini.
Frederick "Fritz" Riedmayer: 8 years old. Astrological sign: Capricorn.
Charles Riedmayer: 5 years old. Astrological sign: Capricorn.

I am not going to post Edith's family tree because we just visited her twin sister, Joan. Note, though, that Edith's children were not fathered by her current husband.

"Ever after"
narrated by Edith Riedmayer

Hey there. I was just reading the last two updates submitted by my kids, and you know what I noticed? They spent the whole time talking about their father. Especially Ingrid. Complain, complain, complain. You'd think I didn't give them a good life, seeing as you hear nothing about what they actually do--did--here at home.

As much as I'd like to correct the historical record, I suppose I should start where Todd left off.

Ingrid went off to college when she was 17. She only had two scholarships--for good grades and cooking skill--but I think she was eager to be off on her own. She didn't even bother getting dressed, just ran right out the second the taxi showed up. Strange girl.

Thomas had just lost his job for some stupid reason (chance card), so things were tight for a little while. Still, we had money for little fun things like pizza. Come to think of it, nobody in this family really knows how to cook, so maybe pizza is more of a necessity

Thomas is absolutely great with the boys. He's nice to Ingrid, too, but she was already a bitter teenager by the time he came into our lives. Anyway, Thomas pays way more attention to the kids than Corbin ever did. He helped Charlie with his homework almost every night until Charlie got the hang of it.

He helped Todd earn some scholarships for college, too. I'm not sure how playing putt-putt on the front lawn helps, but Thomas said that it would.

Thomas paid plenty of attention to me, too, though sometimes our little escapades got us into trouble. *grin*

I must admit, said escapades did get a little embarassing when my mother showed up and started acting all disapproving.

(That really happened. It was the funniest thing ever.)

Also, I am not impressed by the flavor text for 50 Dream Dates. It's like they didn't think anyone would actually get there. Oh well. LTW #1 and IW for Edith! Her new LTW is to become a Professional Party Guest, and she managed to snag a Slacker position right before aging up, so we'll see how that goes.

I think all that attention from Thomas must have put me in a good mood, because I became "Head of SCIA" at work. I think my sister-in-law already explained to you that that's a figurehead sort of position, but it's still a pretty big honor.

The older kids seem to partially blame me for what 
happened with their father, which is just ridiculous, but the little boys don't know anything but this happy life with Thomas. Charlie is especially devoted to me and always runs up to give me a hug when I get back from work.

The boys all get along with each other, fortunately. Todd seems to think it's his job to give them an example of what a man should be like, which seems kind of unnecessary with Thomas around, but at least it's sweet how he plays with them and takes care of them without being asked.

Before I knew it, my little Fritz was not so little anymore. He's a good kid. He says he wants to have a big family and be a teacher, so he can positively influence as many children as possible. Personally, I think four kids are more than enough to be influencing in one lifetime, but my sister Joan seems to do pretty well with her seven. Some people are just the kid type, and maybe Fritz is one of them.

Frederick Riedmayer: Family, Become Education Minister

Around that time, we came by an unexpected financial windfall, which enabled us to finally get the house finished so we weren't all packed into one bedroom together. We ended up with four bedrooms altogether, but the boys said they wouldn't know what to do with their own rooms so we stuck them all together in the biggest one. Thomas and I got our own room, at least, which meant we didn't have to avail ourselves of the photo booths downtown quite so often...

Since we were so much better off, we decided to try to get the boys into private school. The headmaster was suitably impressed with our family and our renovated house, so all three boys got in.

Charles officially turned 12 earlier this year (even though really his birthday isn't until September), so now he's off at high school with the other boys. Todd will be at college in the fall, though, so I guess they're not really all together. Charles seems to take after his father a bit, wanting to go out and meet as many girls as possible. Maybe it'd be better if he remembered what it was like to have your parents break up because one of them is cheating...

Charles Riedmayer, Romance, Become Hall of Famer.

Thomas reminds me that I had a milestone birthday this year too. I legally turned 61, which means I'm old enough to retire, though I probably won't. I already took early retirement from the SCIA and now I'm taking it easy working as a clerk at a music store. I figure after everything I've been through the last 20 years or so, I deserve to take it easy from here on out.

Here's the house at the end of the week. The downstairs is very lavishly furnished, mostly so the headmaster would be impressed.

The upstairs is much plainer. I don't know how much I'll bother furnishing it, since the boys will be leaving for college very shortly. Fritz will probably come back to take care of the old ones after he graduates--it just seems logical since he's the most family-oriented.

And here's the outside. The house is meant to be the mirror image of the house my parents live in. (Putting the driveway on the right is hard in Sims because of how many tiles you need.) I couldn't get the proportions quite right on the inside, but the outside looks very true to life.

Week Five Part Seven: Riedmayer-Todd Estate

Edith Riedmayer, 47 years old. Aspiration: Pleasure. (Changed in college from Fortune.) LTW: Have 50 Dream Dates. Astrological sign: Capricorn.
Corbin Todd, 40 years old. Aspiration: Romance. LTW: Become Professional Party Guest. Astrological sign: Libra.
Ingrid Riedmayer, 10 years old. Astrological sign: Gemini.
Todd Riedmayer, 5 years old. Astrological sign: Gemini.
Frederick "Fritz" Riedmayer, 1 year old.

 

Edith is another of Beata Riedmayer-Landgraab's daughters. Corbin was a Young Adult townie.

Hey, it's me, Todd. Yeah, I'm hot stuff, aren't I? Anyway, Ingy is off at college, so I'm sure she won't mind if I narrate the next part of our story.

I guess I should say something about myself, right? My name is Todd Riedmayer, I'm 19 years old, if you want to date me just give me a call. I'll be at Sim State soon, so hooray! There will finally be girls who aren't A) my cousins or B) dating my cousins. (Damn that Gabe. ... What? ... Okay, fine, I won't talk about that.)

I guess when Ingy left off, she was like 10 or 11, I was starting school, Fritz was just a little squirt, and Mom was pregnant again. And Dad was having a little fun on the side, unbeknownst to Mom.

Well, she found out. Found him in the garage in his sports car doin' the deed with this chick named Audrey. Mom went totally postal on him, too. Told him to get out, that she never wanted to see him again.

So Dad moved out. He ended up shacking up with Audrey, but I guess I'm supposed to tell you what happened to us after he left.

We all got older, blah blah blah. Ingy was a teenager before too long and she decided to go Goth. I think she actually looks pretty good with the black and stuff. I know she's my sister, don't go getting any weird ideas. A guy can be proud of his sister's good looks. I mean, she's gotta be good looking. She's related to ME. (Although, come to think of it, Gabe's related to me and he looks like his face went through a meat grinder.)

Ingrid Riedmayer, daughter of Edith Riedmayer and Corbin Todd. S4 skin, brown hair (dyed black), brown eyes. Aspiration: Fortune. Lifetime want: Become Chief of Staff.

Oh, and I got another brother. Charles. He looks just like the rest of us. And babies are boring. Moving on.

Random picture: Edith was doing the "cuisine enthusiasm" animation and thinking about Charles at the same time. Om nom nom nom babies...

Ingy is big into earning money and stuff, so she started trying to give makeovers, figuring that if she got good she could make some extra cash that way. She practiced on me because, well, because I was there. And I did whatever she told me to do. She was my cool big sister, okay?

Some of those makeovers didn't turn out too good. And don't judge the pink pjs, okay? We were dirt poor. We were practically eating dirt. Mom couldn't buy any new pajamas.

(I found it was actually better to practice makeovers on male victims because it's easier to reset makeup to nothing than to find whatever lipstick and eyeshadow the woman or teenage girl had been wearing before.)

Soon Fritz was starting kindergarten.

Ingy helped him get the hang of homework, since Mom was busy with work and stuff.

About 3 or 4 years after she kicked Dad to the curb, Mom decided it was time to start dating again, have a little fun. So she called up this guy Thomas. I guess they knew each other in college. Anyway, they went out on a date and next thing I know Mom is announcing that she married the guy. That seems a little crazy. One time she's engaged to a guy for 15 years and doesn't marry him, and the next guy she elopes on the first date.

Thomas Dai, former college townie.

S3 skin, red hair, green eyes.

Aspiration: Popularity.

Lifetime Want: Become Media Magnate.

Astrological sign: Leo.

Thomas appears in the first picture in this post; if memory serves he was actually the first friend Edith made at Sim State.

Thomas is pretty cool, though. He let Ingy give him a haircut. She actually make him look pretty good.

Another odd pic out.

Fritz: "So did you do the woohoo with my mother?"

Thomas: "Uhhh..."

I started high school not too long after that. I really wanted to date a bunch of girls, see what was out there, but living in this backwater that didn't work out too well. Especially not with how poor we were for a while there.

Ingy is always getting on me for talking about dating all sorts of girls, says I'm no better than Dad. But A) Dad isn't so bad, really. I mean, there's two sides to everything, right? and B) I'm not planning on having 4 kids with a girl and then cheating on her. I mean, nobody but Mom gets married on the first date. So if I date a girl one or two times, she can't go all possessive if I move on and date someone else. I can't break promises if I'm careful not to make them, right?

Todd Riedmayer, son of Edith Riedmayer and Corbin Todd. S3 skin, brown hair, brown eyes. Aspiration: Pleasure. Lifetime want: 50 1st Dates.

Oh, and Charles started school, yadda yadda. He was an annoying little ankle-biter back then, he's cooler now.

Like I've mentioned, we were WAY poor back then, so Mom and Thomas and Ingy were all working hard on getting promotions at their jobs so we could keep putting food on the table. I got a job too, as a waterboy for the Llamas. Athletes get lots of girls, right?

All right, time to go. Thomas says I gotta study if I want to get good scholarships for Sim State. And I do. After all...GIRLS.

The house at the end of the week. I'm honestly not sure why the Riedmayer-Todd-Dai family is so poor, but as you can see their house is very sparse. It's only just started advancing beyond the basic three-room shack model.

The outside is similarly austere.

I very much had to orchestrate the breakup between Edith and Corbin. I guess she really wanted him around even though he was a cheater. I had to send her out to the garage before she even noticed what he was up to, and then she didn't fight with him or roll wants to break up or anything interesting. But I wanted a little complication, so I told her to break up with him and then moved him out.

Edith's marriage to Thomas was definitely not planned. Once the kids got a little older and things settled down, I decided she needed to start working on that 50 Dream Dates lifetime want again. (Ugh. I think her original LTW, 5 Top-Level Businesses, would have been easier.) So I looked through her relationship panel and she happened to somehow still be best friends with a guy from the Secret Society. She called him, they went out, they hit it off splendidly, there was photobooth woohoo and Mrs. Crumplebottom beatings and all that fun stuff. So I thought, "Why not?" and got them married so she'd have somebody steady around for Dream Dates 30 through 50. I like Thomas a lot now, but you'll have to wait to get to know him until the next update.