Chapter 59 - Chu Chu

"If I were you I'd move the black one over to that white funny looking one over there."

Things have been chugging along nicely at the Chu household.  Mr.  Sideburns has moved in and has been making his mark on the family.  In particular Lillian is now pregnant!  Yes, a little sideburns is now on it's way.

Apart from that he doesn't seem to be making much more use of himself however.  He is very lazy and a slob, so Lillian is left doing most, if not all of the housework.

"Out of the frying pan.....on to the stove..."

In order to help her mum out a bit more Katrina is learning how to cook.  She puts a lot of effort into it, but, as with so many sims, she is struggling to grasp the basics.  But she will get there no doubt.

"No, I think the salt goes over your other shoulder."

A regular visitor to the Chu household is Kyle and by regular visitor, I mean ALL THE TIME.  I guess we can see why he is never seen bothering the Holidays.

He and Katrina get along very well with each other and I think Kyle is secretly hoping it will become more.  But it seems that Katrina has another 'friend' in the running.  A friend who continually calls and texts her while she is in the company of Kyle.

He is not happy about it.  But without actively reading her phone there is no way for him to ever find out who it is.  How can he compete with someone when he doesn't even know who it is!?  Or even if it's someone he needs to compete with.

Of course he has tried to subtley ask about it.  But she always answers in the same sort of way..

"It's just a friend.  They sent me this cute video of a baby llama rolling down a hill.  Look!... HAHAHAHAHA.... Look at 'im bounce!!"

Kyle really doesn't know what to do.  But he realises he is going to have to do it soon.

"And...I'm invisible again"

As Kyle practically lives at the Chu household now it was hardly surprising that he was around for the birth of Katrina's new half-brother.

Her mother chose to have the baby right in the kitchen while they were all sitting down to dinner.  Kyle was heard to remark,

"Ermmmm.... so.... ummmm... odd weather we're having?  Like, I mean, no weather.  None at all... ummm.... don't you find that... ahhh...weird?"

Whilst trying to focus on his pancakes.

"Nope, nope, it wasn't the curry!"

When the baby was born, Lillian went to lie down and Katrina went off to work. This left Kyle as a rather unwitting baby sitter. He has never even seen a baby before, let alone been left in charge of one, so, as you can imagine he was a little nervous. 

He soon discovered it involved long periods of nothing interspersed with short, frantic periods of blood from the ears levels of noise and various bodily fluids on full flow.

Oh yeah, and smells.  So many new and perculiar smells.  Which, apart from instilling a sense of accomplishment once you had rid yourself of the source, were something he could live without.

" #underwhelmed "

Christmas Aspiration Attempt - Blog Post Six

The days are all rolling into one.  I don't seem to need to sleep anymore.  So I have had to take note of the rising of the sun to mark my days.  

I have been painting regularly and it seems that I have not progressed in that skill for many days.  I think I have taken it as far as I can go.  My paintings are selling for massive amounts now, to the mysterious collector.  Perhaps one day, when I can leave this place, I will see my works on gallery walls.  That in itself seems so peculiar.  I have come to think of there being no world but these four walls and my garden.  Remembering the outside world comes on my suddenly, like a forgotten dream.

With the painting producing many many simoleons I have turned my attentions to the garden.  The plants too are becoming more than just friends, creating a lucrative source of income.  Although sometimes I feel I am wasting too much time on them when I could be making more on the paintings.  It is so difficult to know what is the best course of action to take.

I have discovered the art of grafting plants together and through my research and trial and error I have been able to perfect the art of growing bonsai bushes.

My initial reaction has been that I could while away some of the blues with some creative pruning.  But then I discovered that Sims will pay good money for a quality bonsai tree, when potted and ready to go.  So I endeavoured to set up an online business selling bonsai trees. 

My plan worked perfectly until I hit a road block.  Suddenly, once my bushes became of superb quality I could no longer make them into potted bonsais.  They just died straight away.  I had to put my business on hold while I attempt to grow some lesser quality bushes.

This has not been an easy task.  My seed producing plant and those required to graft a new one are all of too high a quality and keep producing superb, albeit useless, bonsai plants.  

I have had to send away for new seeds of the required grafting plants and start from scratch.  But it will take a while.  And I have no idea if I should be dedicating this kind of time to something which could in the end prove to be a fruitless endeavour.

Chapter 58 - Jordon! You Go, Bro!

"Yeah, yeah... I have my eye on someone..."

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Chapter 57 - And Over At Tobias'

In the second of the neighbourhood updates we are going to visit Lillian.  If you remember she was the young love of Tobias.They moved out together after Lillian became pregnant.

Well their daughter was born, Katrina.  You have probably seen her around.  She used to hang out a lot at the Bustamantes when the twins were growing up.

Well, again, much like Troy, Tobias passed away before I could get in to play the household.  But it appears that Lillian has not been idle.  She had made a new friend in this fine looking specimen of manhood.

I did interrupt their autonomy and got Lillian to invite him to move in as she seemed hell-bent on plenty of this...

Moving him in did have some perks for Lillian and Katrina.  Mr. Sideburns came with his own bank balance so they were able to make some renovations to the house.  Perhaps Easter needs to find herself a wealthy man too!

Katrina has continued her visits to the house and has become very good friends with Kyle. There hasn't been any romantic interactions but she does tend to pull a sulky if Kyle is talking to other girls his age...

Whenever she comes over to the house she heads straight to the, rather murky looking, pond and gets all bikini'd up.  I don't know why they all use the pond rather than the pool but there you go, each Sim to their own.

"You have a pool but here we are again, in the pond!"

I don't know what will come of this friendship but who knows.  Kyle seems happy with just loads of friends at the moment.  I get the feeling that she is after more though.  Or perhaps she just has her eye on the big house!

"Soooo much closet space!"

"Besties"

Chapter 56 - What's Up with Easter

**Author's note 

    I thought people might like to see what happens in the lives of those Sims that featured in the main Bustamante Household but subsequently moved out.  I am considering doing some kind of Rotational play, just to give myself a bit of game play variety.  I will still focus mainly on the Bustamantes, it is their story after all, at least until they have made their million.  But I will slip in a few chapter's here and there to let you know how the others are getting along.  

With that said the next two chapters will be to get you up to speed on our two 'extra' families.  You are already following Christmas in her own little quest.**

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Easter moved out to live with her partner Troy.  Troy was an elder at the time and unfortunately he didn't last long.  In fact by the time I checked on them he had already died. This has left Easter as a single mum with a teenage son, Jaxon.  He was also born while I was away so this is the name Easter chose for him all by herself!

Easter has taken a job as a computer programmer and is currently working her way through the job levels.

"Family Selfie"

Jaxon has taken up cooking as his aspiration and to be honest he isn't very good at it.  But that's what he had when I switched to them so that's what he is stuck with!

"Salad is as creative as he gets."

With only one adult in the house money is tight at the moment.  So, if no one does the dishes the table gets full pretty quickly.  Jaxon and Easter have to make other seating arrangements.

"Yes.  I eat in my bed!"

I don't know what is in store for these two.  And the moment they are just getting along, but not really progressing any.

Hopefully something good will happen to them in the future.

Christmas Aspiration Attempt - Blog Post Five

It's my birthday. 

I am alone. 

For some reason this day seems more difficult than the others.

I guess it's because birthdays are meant to celebrate our achievements of the past year.

I have achieved very little.

I decide not to dwell.  I bake my absolute favourite cake.  Strawberry.  And I choose to see this as a fresh beginning to my quest.  I have been working hard on my painting and gardening skills. And have achieved the highest standard in both.  I have amassed quite a large amount of money through the selling of my paintings and my produce.

It is time for me to upgrade my little living area.  I have decided that although I might build the house bigger.  I will continue to live only in this little area.  I need to remain focused on my goal and the luxuries of the house will only serve to distract me.

The first area I choose to upgrade is the garden.  It is where I spend most of my time whilst I paint and some inspirational surroundings can only help that.  I add an array of beautiful flowers and a pond and fountain.  

I don't do any of the actual work myself, I cannot leave my tiny compound, but I have a helpful coordinator that takes my ideas and turns them into reality.

I also allow them to add a new room to the house.  A large sitting room.

I watch the furniture being shifted in and I am filled with sadness and excitement.  Once this quest is over I will be able to move through that locked door and see all those pieces, pieces I have earned, and to be able to enjoy them fully.  But until then I can only watch as they are marched passed me and out of sight.

Chapter 55 - That...That Was it?

"They seek her here..."

"...They seek her there."

Alex had worked out how she could bypass some of the waiting. She poured over the websites about gardening.  She borrowed countless books from Easter and the library and eventually she stumbled upon a solution that would ensure results fast.

As she is a keen gardener, although she doesn't quite seem to be able to get past the level 9 hump, she is able to take cuttings and graft plants together.

Her work had already produced a beautiful example of an apple tree that produced the most amazing apples.  We have them in Apple Pie.  With ice-cream.  It's funny.  Apple pie is made from Apples but Baby Milk or Cat Food.. no babies or cats involved in the production.  At least I don't think so!  I have never actually read the labels.

Anyhoo, she took a cutting of her reasonable Growfruit tree and grafted it onto the apple tree.  The apple tree didn't seem to be too impressed as it disappeared.  But after a few days it was back and producing both apples and growfruit.

A couple of evolutions later and the growfruit were perfect.

"Ta daaaa"

Alex raced down to the park.  This time she didn't bother with the turning round and round nonsense.  She just hung about a waited.  

Soon Jasmine appeared and wandered over.  Alex produced the Growfruit and Jasmine seemed suitably impressed.

She told Alex that her super duper prize would be waiting for her at home. 

Alex raced home and immediately checked the mailbox for the cheque.  Or perhaps a small package containing jewels, a certificate or an invitation to some fancy garden party.  She didn't find any of those things.

What she did find was a selection of single planters.  Some were, she had to admit jewel encrusted.  Although on closer inspection she found they were some kind of resin and the paint peeled off if you tried to gouge them out with a butter knife.

All that effort.

Alex was disheartened.  She did have a lovely growfruit tree and the fun of solving the problem of getting the perfect growfruit had kept her busy.  But she couldn't help think that for all the effort the prize was a little.... 

Especially for Old Mrs Johnstone who had no gardening skill when she started this and had to work to just understand fertilising.  Boy was she going to be in for a shocker.  Mrs Johnstone had already complained about the glowing light from her tree keeping her awake at night.

What had it all been about?  Really?  Why did Jasmine need a perfect Growfruit?  And why couldn't she just grow her own?

"Just need a few more suckers and my masterplan will be set into motion."

Chapter 54 - How to Do It!

"Smells like green"

The Jasmine woman had told Alex that if she could grow a perfect growfruit then the rewards would be increased tenfold.  This had Alex intrigued.  Her competitive nature meant that there was no way she was letting this go.

"So what I need to do is grow a perfect growfruit.  I have never grown a perfect anything before.  I am not sure exactly what it takes.  Or how long it takes.  Or how I know when I have actually managed it."

"I have searched all over the internet and there is nothing about Growfruit anywhere.  Do you think that I should just assume it grows like any other plant?  Through the same stages I mean?  Have you ever actually looked at how long the plants take to go through each stage?  Is it the same for each plant?  Did you notice if anything we did sped it up?  Or slowed it down?  Please give me some help here!"

"Growfruit is such a silly name for it.  Doesn't all fruit grow?  Or perhaps it makes you grow when you eat it.  That would be cool.  I could get really, really big and then I would be able to get to work in just one step.  But.  How would I get into my office?  Do you think they would adapt the existing building for my giant needs or build a whole seperate complex just for me?  Both seem like massive undertakings.  Perhaps I would just be better off finding a new job.  I'll start looking tomorrow."

"Never mind I'll research these things myself."

Christmas Aspiration Attempt - Blog Post Four

Painting has taken over my life.

Chapter 53 - The More I Learn, The More I Want It

"This is Simon Simmian reporting for Simming Around the Clock."

    "Well, it's over folks, it's all over.  The quest for those surprisingly easy to come by eggs is over.  For those of you not fortunate enough to find them all, what was wrong with you?  We were practically tripping over them!"

    "But seriously, for those of you not fortunate enough to see what this whole thing was all about let me sum it up for you in one photo.  Sent into us by long time listener first time contacter, Alex Burden.  Alex managed to find all the eggs in time and was presented with this giant spotty bunny."

    "When asked for comment about her winnings Alex said;

                    "It's a giant rabbit!  What am I meant to do with that?!"

"We hear you Alex.  We hear you."

"This is what it was all about"

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After the let down with the stuffed rabbit prize for the mystery eggs Alex became even more determined to find the woman in the park that could explain what the whole thing was about.  She became somewhat obsessed with it.  She hung out at the park for hours on end, hoping to find this mystery woman.

Finally the day came when she spotted a well dressed woman watering the plants in the community garden.  This had to be her.  Unless the council was forking out for designer gear for their employees.  There was only one way to find out.

Alex accosted her and ask just what was going on with the whole egg thing.

"What's going on with the whole egg thing?" she said.

The woman introduced herself as Jasmine Holiday.  I found this an odd name and completely out of character for the rest of the Holiday family.  Jasmine isn't a holiday.  Well, I mean JASMINE is a HOLIDAY but Jasmine isn't a holiday.  It's a flower.  Like a cactus.  And cacti aren't holidays either.  Unless she has a brother, Cactus.

"It was all some, prank?  Right?"

The woman explained that the eggs were nothing to do with her although she did seem to know a lot about them.  She said she was more interested in gardening and was looking for Sims who would be willing to help her out.

Alex said she was interested in hearing more.

"I am interested in hearing more." she said.

The woman explained that she needed 20 grow fruits by the setting of the blue moon sun and those who could provide her with that many would be richly rewarded.  She said those who were interested would be given a seed to grow and some fertiliser to help.  When they had enough grow fruit they should bring them back to the park, turn around three times and say her name backwards.

News of the growfruit challenge spread up and down the street and many came to try and catch a glimpse of the tree as it grew in our garden.  Some people even came by and took over the care of our roses so that Alex could focus all her time on the new tree.

Soon the tree was in full fruit and after several days of harvesting Alex had enough to take them back to the woman in that park.

She stood in the park clutching her fruit.  She couldn't see the woman anywhere.  Then she remembered what she had been told to do.  She slowly turned around three times and said the woman's name backwards.

Suddenly the woman was there.   Alex asked why she needed to do the turning round and round thing.  

"Why do I need to do the turning round and round thing?" she said.

Jasmine said that she didn't but she had been getting bored with explaining the growfruit challenge that she had begun wondering just how far she could push the commanding.

Alex handed over the growfruits.

Jasmine seemed shocked to see them.

She waited for her reward but Jasmine looked at her...

"Do you want more?" she said.

"Holy Cow Plants!  THAT'S what they are!!"