lorinsv60

Welcome back to the Shin household in Mesa Vista, where the glitches just keep on giving!

Let's see... where did we leave off again?
Oh, right, Diane discovered her job in Science was bogus because I mistakenly thought it was opened with a Uni, so she quit and became a stay-at-home mom for Stan.

"Ticka-ticka!"

Stan liked learning the Nursery Rhyme and all...

... but what he really liked was playing with the Bunny Head, all hours, day and night.

Meanwhile, Stephan was advancing nicely up the Business career track.

With Stan spending quality time with the Bunny Head, Diane took a liking to Stephan's violin.

"Come on, little man," Stephan chuckled indulgently, "time for bed."

An unfortunate byproduct of sitting at a desk all day was Stephan had developed a bit of a paunch.

Nope, never a dull moment at the Shins.

More promotions and more paunch!

The paunch had kind of snuck up on me, but things in Mesa Vista really do happen for a reason, as I found out when I sent him outside to do some yoga. Ta-da! Mesa Vista's first electrocution!
I wonder if he would be willing to try for three? His wife would love him forever for it...
... No?

After a shower he was as good as new, and it didn't take him long to get fit again.
"Sheesh, I wasn't that out of shape!"

For a Family Sim, Stephan only sporadically rolled the want to have a baby, and I want to see what a daughter of theirs would look like, so there we go.
"Aw you n daddy paying on da bed?"
"I think Mr. Bunny wants to play with you, honey."

"Bunny honey bunny honey bunny honey," Stan chortled as he toddled out of the room.

"How aw you, bunny honey?"

"Aw, honey," Diane laughed, a little guiltily.

Sure, Diane found things to do around the house, but she wanted to contribute something else for the week too.

"Want bunny honey!"

"He's waiting for you!"

There were just some things a honey bunny couldn't do...

Okay!

I like this bump shot.

With Diane now in raging-hormone mode, the only solution was to strip down to the barest of skivvies.

Stephan certainly wasn't complaining...

As she looked through their honeymoon album, Diane continued to ponder what else she could contribute for the week.

Stephan wasn't getting any promotion doodads, but we've got something better: a screenshot! Mesa Vista now had a second Business District, adding five points to the Sim Multiplier. Whee!
Question though: How does a toddler get enthusiasm in Cuisine?

Stan grew into the same pink pajamas that every other boy in Mesa Vista grew into. Ugh!

And like Noah Ng, his everyday outfit was a soccer uniform. It could be worse, and I debated whether a trip to Outside Outfitters would be worth it, but I decided keep him in it.

One thing hadn't changed for Stan since his toddler years.
"Time for bed, munchkin!"

Pretty good birthing sequence to follow:

Am I the only one reminded of the "Brush with Greatness" episode of The Simpsons?

You decide: Alien or poetic justice?

And out the back of Stephan's neck slowly emerged...

Another boy! Say hello to Devon Shin.
"Hello, Devon Shin!"

This time, "We did it!" really meant something.

"Dad, the girls are hogging the chess table!"

"Now, honey, Laura and I are discussing her future education. She might be going to University."
"Does pool teach Logic, Dad?"

"You have plenty of time to learn more Logic, son. Would you like to see what I got from work? I think you're big enough to use it now."

"This is the best thing ever!"
My hope is that most houses in Mesa Vista will get one of these.

But Stan didn't stop there. The kid was a skilling machine.

Stephen was right. Even with school, Stan had plenty of opportunity to max his Logic.
If he wanted to be a Mad Scientist like his mom when he grew up, or an entertainer, he was set.

As Stan practiced and practiced, so did Diane, and after she painted a portrait of her husband and son (her true masterpiece), she went into the Zone and maxed her Creativity.

Stephan couldn't have been prouder of his whiz kid.

Neighbors and townies continued stopping by.

The Shins took all the company in stride, and Devon grew into one of the plethora of absurdly formal toddler outfits.

Oh, hey, there was Tracy Messlot, one of my favorites.
"He's so cute, Diane."
"He really is," Diane agreed with a smile. "Aren't you?"
Tracy cleared her throat, then asked, "Where's your bathroom?"
"Right off the eating area in the back."

"Stephan?" Tracy asked.
"Stephan," Jill Fleig confirmed.

Good going, Stephan!
Poor Tracy. Broken plumbing was the story of her life, it seemed.

But not for long, Tracy vowed. Soon (but not soon enough for her or me) she would be able to continue working on her beloved grandparents' old house again!

There I was, minding my business and taking pictures of the Shins doing their thing.

Clever boy!
Er... what was that?

Dammit, NOT OK!
*Sigh* I'm not even going to make a big deal about it this time. Devon followed in Stan's footsteps when the game crashed again. Now I'm afraid the Shin lot might be corrupted somehow, which is a shame, because their house is one of my favorites.

Though it wouldn't be that much trouble to replicate it, I still have the original lot and this picture of my modifications.

"Something's wrong again... Stephan, did you have another one of your nightmares?"

So, here is Devon, take two. He looks more like Stan than Devon One did. And his personality is 6/9/6/4/4, identical to Stan's.
*Sigh* I never got around to checking Devon One's. :(

He's still a cutie though.

For Diane's extra contribution, she decided to experiment with an easier way to get a restaurant to Level 5, and typical Diane, she chose a sushi bar.

But first, she had to get ready.
If I saw my mother in that contraption, I would seriously freak!

In a nutshell, Pagoda Sushi was the Far East food stand from Bon Voyage with a small oriental-style building constructed around it.

"Is your store ever going to carry shoes?" Melissa Kalson asked Nemo Outside, of Outside Outfitters fame.
"I'm afraid carrying shoes would be impossible, unless they were decorative."
"Oh. Bummer."

It didn't take long to realize running this business was a snap! A little bit of selling, some periodic checking of the bathrooms, and the chef did all the rest.

The plan was for Diane to stay only long enough to get her sushi bar to Level 5, sufficient to open a slot in Culinary.
It may be cheating, but I got a regular restaurant to Level 10 once in my Apocalypse, and it wasn't all that fun of an experience.

"Say, didn't you once invoke Thunderdome Law with your daughters?" Melissa babbled on.
"Where do you kids get this stuff?" Nemo asked innocently.
Seriously, this place was killer! Not a single negative star was thrown, and the critic finally showed up at a Mesa Vista business.

Said critic gave Pagoda Sushi Mesa Vista's first Best of the Best Award.

Great, Diane can finally do something useful, like chase the witches off the lot.

This is the reason I use the Visitor Controller to ban witches from my owned community lots, although I always forget about it until one wreaks havoc that first time...

"That dreadful witch will ruin everything!" Diane sobbed.
I know, Diane, I hate them too...

Though I lost my sympathy for her after she pulled this...

"Geez, how many bowls has he had?" Rebecka Rossi muttered quietly to no one in particular.
Melissa Kalson leaned in and whispered knowingly, "Four."
Rebecka turned to the teen with a raised eyebrow. "I was asking that rhetorically, dear."
"Oh..." Melissa looked sheepishly down at her bowl, which also happened to be her fourth.

Her tummy stuffed, Melissa decided eating sushi just wasn't fun anymore. And apparently, Nemo was ready to be sold another round.
Oh, and come on, Diane, buck up.

"Mom is not going to appreciate that you've been documented eating five bowls of sushi... and it's dinnertime!"
"And a hotdog..."
"What?"
"Er... I said I was just finishing up here. Shall we go home now, Emily?"

Pagoda Sushi got to Level 5 before Diane ran out of Energy – unbelievable! Fastest advancing business I have run to date, by far!

"Gabriella Newson, time to stop heckling the masks and go home!"

So, the Shin's week was a very productive one with a new Business District plus new openings in the Culinary, Law Enforcement and Education careers. Whee, I love this family!

Quick score:
Sim count + graves: 31
Sim multiplier: 19 (whee!)
Population: 589

Another update with a new CAS family will follow shortly.
Thanks for reading and Happy Simming!