Round 7 Part 10: Dejackome-Seifert (2053-2057)

Timothy is 46, Jeannie is 38, Caitlin is 10, Patrick is 7, Stacy is 3.

(Also pictured: BJ Bigfoot)

"Iris"

narrated by Timothy Seifert

You'd think I'd be used to my life not being exactly normal at this point, given that I have a Sasquatch living in my house. But honestly, most of the time I think about what every guy my age thinks about--like the fact that my daughter somehow became a beautiful young woman overnight and I should really buy a shotgun so I can sit on the porch and clean it when boys come over. Not that Cait brings boys over for anything but study dates. She's like me and her mom, nose always buried in a book. But if any of her study buddies start getting fancy ideas, I'll be ready.

All of the kids are getting older right under my nose, come to think of it. Stacy has started school now.

We managed to get her into private school with the other kids--I was worried we'd have trouble on account of BJ but the headmaster babbled on for a while about being in tune with nature and then informed us our application had been accepted, so I guess that's a success. At least she'll have Pat with her at the elementary school for a few years so she'll be looked after.

It used to be that Pat and Stacy shared a room, so poor Cait wouldn't get woken up in the night every time one of them had a wet diaper or a bad dream, but now that everybody's older and Pat's getting to the age where he wants a little more privacy, we rearranged things so Cait and Stacy are sharing.

(They have two dressers and another desk on the opposite side of the room.)

Pat's room is huge--Jeannie says it's bigger than the whole house she and her 3 siblings grew up in, though I think she might be exaggerating a bit--but it's not his fault he's the only boy.

So, yeah, life is pretty boring. The most exciting thing that happens is usually eating breakfast with my lovely wife and listening to her talk about how she's investigating some celebrity stalker.

And the kids have friends over near every day, which keeps things loud and crazy.

Anyway, I meant to talk about the telescope thing. Jeannie got it for me for my 50th birthday, a huge fancy thing. And sure, I guess I might have been spending a little too much time out there, late at night, when the kids were in bed and I should have been too since I go to work pretty early in the morning.

Jeannie says that I probably got so tired I started hallucinating, but all I'm going to say is it sure didn't seem like a hallucination when I got sucked into a giant flying saucer and then spat back out on my front lawn a few hours later, with no memory of what happened in between. I guess we'll see if I come down with any funky alien diseases or anything.

Notes:

1. Caitlin is Knowledge aspiration, LTW City Planner, turned on by blond hair and mechanical skill but turned off by black hair.

2. So! Turns out that if your Sim's Science enthusiasm gets high enough, they can "summon aliens." Which results in...summoning aliens. I don't know if this is going to lead to little green babies in this already weird household, but I guess we'll find out next round.

Week Six Part Ten: Dejackome-Seifert

Timothy Seifert: 39 years old. Aspiration: Knowledge. LTW: Become Media Magnate. (Fulfilled: Become Prestidigitator.) Astrological sign: Virgo.
Jeannie Dejackome-Seifert: 31 years old. Aspiration: Knowledge. LTW: Become Head of SCIA. Astrological sign: Aquarius.
Caitlin Seifert: 3 years old. Astrological sign: Virgo.
Patrick Seifert: Baby.
BJ Bigfoot: Aspiration: Knowledge. LTW: Own 5 Top-Level Businesses. Astrological sign: Aries.

Jeannie is a Dejackome by birth. Her siblings have all been played already this round. (In parts eight, two, and five respectively.)

Tim is a former Secret Society member, and BJ is, well, a Bigfoot. So neither of them have family trees to speak of.

"Busy-ness"
narrated by Jeannie Dejackome-Seifert

When Patrick was just a few months old, Tim managed to become the owner of his own newspaper. It pays well and he likes the work, but the hours are terrible. That's why he asked me to do this update; he wants to spend some time with the kids before bedtime.

I really don't remember much that happened while Patrick was a baby. There was just kind of a sleepless haze for a couple of years, and then one day they were five and two instead of three and zero and could play together quietly and I had time to take care of other things.

We got Caitlin into private school right away, of course. I showed the headmaster around the house while BJ made lobster. Tim was working and showed up just in time to sit down with us for dinner.

Not long after Patrick was born, BJ got it in his head that he would like to adopt a child. He didn't know if it would be possible, given the vast amounts of Sasquatch discrimination, but he worked on all the application materials anyway.

Well, a baby girl was born in Sim City on May 23 of 2050 (shortly after Patrick turned 4), and BJ got a call about a week later asking if he was interested. He was, and Anastasia arrived the next day.

Now, I was happy with the decision Tim and I made to have only two kids, for lots of reasons, but I also can't say I was unhappy to have a baby in the house again, especially since Patrick went to kindergarten the year after Anastasia arrived.

We got him into private school with his sister, of course.

Meanwhile, Caitlin was only about eight but she was already helping out constantly around the house and weeding the little garden we have out back and generally being ridiculously grown-up.

Of course, the kids did have plenty of fun too. My sister Gretchen's kids, Emmy and Shelley, are almost exactly the same ages as Caitlin and Patrick, so they came over for playdates frequently.

Caitlin also ended up good friends with this boy from across town, Brian Pons. They're in the same class at school, and he seems like a nice boy.

Soon, Anastasia grew up enough that she started to be a playmate for Caitlin and Patrick too.

The three of them can spend hours playing together nicely at the activity table we have in the upstairs landing. I'll be kind of sad when they all outgrow that--and I'm sure they will; Caitlin will be heading off to high school in two short years.

Now that the kids are older, Tim and I have had more time to spend together. We still don't have a lot of time, thanks to his job, but we don't need to do anything fancy. Even just sitting and having breakfast together before the kids wake up is a great time to reconnect and remember why we decided to spend the rest of our crazy-busy lives together.

The Dejackome-Seifert-Bigfoot family continues to do well financially--their giant house is now quite well-furnished.

Upstairs you have (clockwise from top left) Caitlin and Patrick's room, Anastasia's nursery, Tim and Jeannie's room, and BJ's room. When Anastasia ages to child I'll move her in with Caitlin and Patrick will get his own room. 

This is what the house looks like on the outside. I'm still really proud of how it turned out.

And the backyard.

Notes:

1. Tim reached TOC and LTW #2 when he became a Media Magnate. His new LTW? Become Prestidigitator. Again. I hope that isn't the kind of glitch that spells doom for my neighborhood.

2. I think I was having BJ call a repairman or something and noticed that calling the adoption service was an option for him. So I tried it to see what would happen, and Anastasia happened. I'm counting her as Generation 3 since her father was invited to move in by a member of Generation 2.

Week Five Part Ten: Dejackome-Seifert

I was really creative with the new lot names this round. My husband was doing something else; he's the one who comes up with good names.

 

Timothy Seifert, 32 years old*. Aspiration: Knowledge. Lifetime want: Become a Prestidigitator. Astrological sign: Virgo.

Jeannie Dejackome, 24 years old. Aspiration: Knowledge. Lifetime want: Become Head of SCIA. Astrological sign: Aquarius.

*I am basing Tim's age on the fact that he appeared at the end of this post. Pretend he was on the 15-year plan. (Actually, 15 years to get the equivalent of a doctorate isn't too shabby and I always assume my Sims graduate with doctorates since they can get job as surgeons and stuff. That's why I'm also okay with my playables being gone from the 'hood for 7 "years" when they go to college.)

Jeannie is the second (adopted) daughter of founder Rivka Dejackome. And that's all the family tree you're going to get, since Jeannie's fiance, Timothy, is a former townie.

Well, I'm Timothy. I guess you want to hear about my life?

It's pretty boring to start with. I was orphaned at a young age, or abandoned, who knows? Anyway, I grew up in a group home, never got adopted, but managed to get decent scholarships to college. That was the first place I felt like I really fit in. I got into the Secret Society and just kind of...hung out. For a decade or so. I was working on my doctorate, so that's something, right?

Then I started hanging out with the kids in ZZE. I went to a toga party or two back when the Riedmayer twins were running the joint, but I really got close to the Whitfill boys. So when they asked me if I'd join I accepted, and when they asked me to stick around and look after their little sisters I accepted again. Jeannie wasn't anybody's little sister, but she was constantly hanging out with Rishell and Veronica, so I got to know her pretty well. And that was when my life really started, I think. We started dating, got engaged when she was about halfway done, and then we finally both graduated.

Needless to say, after stagnating for all those years I was ready to settle down. Jeannie's a few years younger than I am, but she didn't mind the idea of marriage either. So we got married just a few weeks after graduation. It was a pretty small wedding; just her family attended.

Side note: I liked Jeannie with an updo so much that I left it like that after the wedding. I need to take a close-up portrait sometime; she's quite pretty.

Then we went on our honeymoon. We didn't have a lot of cash after getting some land and a little cabin, so we went camping in Three Lakes.

While we were there, we met BJ. He's a Sasquatch. That's the preferred term, though most people call them Bigfoots. Bigfeet? Whatever. Anyway, Sasquatches are people just like everybody else. Hairy people, but why should hairiness matter? He was forced to live in a shack act as a tourist attraction at Three Lakes because there's this law that says Sasquatches can't live in real houses or hold real jobs or anything like that unless they have a host family, and not a lot of people want to be host families for a Sasquatch, because there's so much prejudice.

So we invited BJ to live with us. At first he had to sleep in a tent in the yard. We felt really bad about that; it seemed like he wasn't really moving up in the world. We did let him use our kitchen and bathroom facilities, though.

BJ got a job in politics; he's hoping that he can work to end Sasquatch oppression.

We were still saving up to build on so BJ would have a room when Jeannie found out she was pregnant. We were a little worried about money, but it turns out that we needn't have been. Our fortunes really turned around right after that.

First BJ and I got a lot of promotions at work and managed to rake in some serious cash. 

According to my notes, Tim got promoted to Visionary AND to Prestidigitator this week, making 2 TOCs and 1 LTW. Meanwhile, BJ got promoted to Mayor.

Jeannie worked in the Music track for a while but then got fired due to a chance card, but that was okay because she managed to get into Intelligence finally after that.

Then BJ bought a little shop and started selling things he made with his sewing machine. 

BJ's LTW is "Own 5 Top Level Businesses," which seems odd for a Knowledge Sim, but okay.

Gretchen ended up buying both of these bears...I'm assuming she intended one for Emmy and one for the new baby.

Jeannie helped out with the sewing while she was on maternity leave.

With all that money, we were finally able to build BJ his own room.

Then we made a covered area where people could come and play musical instruments and hang out. It seemed like a strange idea when we came up with it but people seem to love it.

Our daughter, Caitlin Marie Seifert, was born on March 4, 2043. She has a darker complexion like me but she has her mother's brown hair and green eyes. I think she's beautiful, but I might be a little biased.

BJ really took to Caitlin. Jeannie and I made sure to tell him he didn't have to feel obligated to help out, but he insisted on being involved in her care and we let him. Sasquatches can't legally marry, so maybe BJ felt like Caitlin was his only chance at experiencing anything like fatherhood.

We didn't have to wait too long to experience having a newborn in the house again, though. Patrick Antoine Seifert was born on March 30, 2046.

Patrick has blue eyes, but otherwise looks a lot like his sister.

The "cabin" at the end of the week. The downstairs is pretty bare; I think most of the money went to all those musical instruments on the back porch.

The upstairs: BJ's room, a study room, Tim and Jeannie's room, and the nursery.

The outside from the front.

The outside from the back. I worked really hard getting that roof just right, so I'm kind of proud of it.

This was a pretty boring week. Tim, Jeannie, and BJ are all Knowledge aspiration, so they were pretty happy to just get skill points all week. And the glut of skill points meant a glut of promotions, so now the Dejackome-Seifert-Bigfoot family is sitting pretty financially, despite being one of the newer households.

Week Four Part Ten: Sim State Dormitory + Zeta Zeta Epsilon Greek House

Taking my cue from several other Prosperity bloggers, I decided a while back to start taking portraits of each family at the beginning of a round. Now you all finally get to start reaping the fruits of my labor. 

So, the new college students, from left:

Jeannie Dejackome, 17 years old, Aspiration: Knowledge, LTW: Become Head of SCIA, Astrological sign: Aquarius

Mildred "Millie" Landgraab, 20 years old, Aspiration: Knowledge, LTW: Become Education Minister, Astrological sign: Gemini

Veronica Whitfill, 21 years old, Aspiration: Fortune, LTW: Become Prestidigitator, Astrological sign: Libra

Rishell Whitfill, 21 years old, Aspiration: Knowledge, LTW: Max All Skills, Astrological sign: Pisces

Gretchen Dejackome, 17 years old, Aspiration: Knowledge, LTW: Become Criminal Mastermind, Astrological sign: Aries 

You can really see the results of the wave of Knowledge teens I got a while back. Also, I think it's funny that sisters Jeannie and Gretchen have such opposite Lifetime Wants. Also also, I think it's funny that of the five girls in "The Whitfill Household", four will have the last name Whitfill at some point in their lives. But I get ahead of myself.

On to the story:

The students of Sim State University were not immune to the Great Flu Epidemic of '32. Millie Landgraab and Rishell Whitfill had to spend most of their first semester in bed.

Veronica didn't get sick, so she started work on getting them into the Greek House. Timothy Seifert was delighted to admit her.

Rishell followed in her sister's footsteps as soon as she had a clean bill of health.

Then all five girls had to hit the books to make up for lost time so nobody would do poorly on finals.

(Actually, Gretchen had the college meter glitch. So I kept them studying as long as possible as extra insurance. Fun fact: The Sim who had that glitch first was Gretchen's future husband, Donte Whitfill. I am almost looking forward to seeing if their children get it.)

The next semester, Jeannie managed to get into the Greek House.

As soon as everybody got back from their first day of classes, the girls all went clothes shopping.

The next night, Gretchen asked Timothy if she could join ZZE. He said yes, of course.

Millie took the opportunity to ask as well.

The night after that, Rishell managed to get into the Secret Society. (There are no real secrets in a group of five girls.)

Meanwhile, back at the Greek House...

Jeannie found herself thinking more and more about Timothy Seifert. She made sure to call him from time to time to make sure he didn't get too lonely in that big old house all by himself.

Side note: As a result of befriending all the girls, Timothy was Big Sim on Campus by the time I got back to him.

Near the end of the semester, Timothy invited Jeannie over, saying he needed some advice on fixing the place up before all the girls moved in. Jeannie never made it past the living room, however.

The first morning of the fall semester, Timothy welcomed everyone with pancakes and a rousing discussion of robots.

Don't forget, Timothy is also a Knowledge Sim.

Jeannie, Veronica, and Millie were all inducted into the Secret Society that semester.

Look, it's a Landgraab in the Landgrabb Society! (Relatedly, EA Games needed a better copy editor.)

Living under the same roof did nothing to dull Jeannie's fascination with Timothy, or his with her.

Near the end of their sophomore year, Timothy decided that he never wanted to live apart from Jeannie again and asked her to do him the honor of becoming Mrs. Seifert. Jeannie agreed, as long as she could hyphenate her name.

Something I might as well note here as anywhere else: I have the women take their husband's last names, as Prosperity rules dictate. However, on this blog I refer to married women by whatever name seems to best fit their personality and background.

These last two pictures really were a semester apart, by the way. Jeannie liked that drum kit almost as much as she liked Timothy.

Also during their sophomore year: Jeannie and Gretchen made Big Sim on Campus; Gretchen made Secret Society.

Although there was only one in-house couple at ZZE, love was in the air for some other residents. Millie invited over her old friend Blake Whitfill and they discovered new feelings for one another. Unfortunately, he had the flu, so he couldn't stay long.

Blake's brother Donte stayed longer, at Gretchen's invitation.

Meanwhile, Rishell Whitfill invited her friend Ryker Owens to pledge. She wasn't interested in him that way, but he was a great guy and Tim was kind of overwhelmed by all the estrogen in the house.

Ryker Owens
S2 skin, blond hair, light blue eyes
Aspiration: Fortune
LTW: Become a Prestidigitator (because you can NEVER have too many of those...)
Astrological sign: ???
 

Around the time Ryker pledged, Millie came down with the flu for the second time in her college career, probably thanks to Blake. Gretchen also got sick. She blamed it on Millie, but Millie said she'd probably picked up some germs while sharing spit with Donte.

Other junior year accomplishments: Rishell makes Big Sim on Campus.

By the fall of their senior year, Millie and Gretchen were back to full health. They used some of their newfound energy to play videogames late at night. Ryker, who had just moved in, had a blast watching them.

Later that semester, the members of ZZE had a toga party. Nobody felt like singing a folk song, so instead they formed a rock band, The Angry Tribbles. Their first performance, Jeannie was on lead guitar, Gretchen on bass, Rishell on drums, and Timothy on piano.

Most awkward picture ever: Happily married mother of 4 Joan Pons is in the hot tub NAKED with Ryker Owens. (Ryker had the decency to wear his swimsuit.) Ryker just nonchalantly carried on a conversation. Nothing untoward happened; Joan just does that because she has 10 outgoing points. It's still disturbing.

Thanks to his Greek House connections, Ryker was able to make it into the Secret Society later that semester.

In no time at all, the older members were getting ready to graduate. All of them managed a 4.0.

You can see Millie's scary eyebrows in this shot. Her two younger sisters have them too. Usually they're covered by hair.

The Angry Tribbles held a parting concert (with Timothy on lead guitar, Veronica on bass, Millie on drums, and Gretchen on piano) before packing up their things and heading back to Prosperity Plains (Timothy, the only non-native, was more than willing to move for Jeannie), leaving ZZE Greek House in Ryker's capable hands.

Now it's finally time for some Greek House pictures!

The ground floor. The kitchen (on the right) was part of the original massive renovation near the beginning of Week Three, during which I knocked down almost all the walls in the area to the left of the stairs. The pool (in back) and hot tub/bar area (far left) were added at the end of Week Three.

The red sports car almost never leaves the driveway; it's there mostly so the students don't clog their wants panels with "buy a car." It's also useful for acheiving Dream Date status, if you take my meaning.

The second floor was renovated the most during Week Four. If you have Sims 2 University, you've almost certainly seen this house (it's 80 Crumplebottom Road at SSU and it's also available in the Lots and Houses bin in the regular neighborhood). So you'll know that in the original design there were two bedrooms just to the left of the stairs.

At the beginning of Week Three, I added the two bedrooms and bathroom to the right of the stairs, for a total of four bedrooms and two bathrooms. During Week Four, I knocked out the two original bedrooms and added on a wing over the hot tub wing downstairs, so there's a huge open study/hang out area. (The musical instruments used to be in the open area downstairs; now that's a dancing/mingle area for when they throw parties.) Then I added two bedrooms and a bathroom over the pool wing in back to make up for knocking down the old ones.

Here's the attic area, also known as the computer lab. The wing with all the desks was added at the beginning of Week Three. That's also when I knocked down the wall to the little room where the black desk is in this picture. (When I had a bed up in the attic, it was useful to have the noisy computer behind a closed door.) Notice that there is a mini-fridge and a trashcan so that term-paper-writing Simmies can grab a snack and throw away the wrapper without leaving the computer lab.

The attic bathroom is the only room in this entire house that remains unchanged...for now. 

And, last but not least, the outside. It's becoming a cumbersome-looking house, but we'll leave aesthetics for the main neighborhood, right?