Welcome to the first Already in Progress chapter after the rebuild! Ialways forget how long rebuilds take, what with rebuilding thehouses, restoring the genetics, recreating the Sims, putting backskill points and personality points, and so on and so forth. I havedecided that from now on, any and all building/decorating willeither take pace in my “rebuilding” ‘hood or will be immediatelyrecreated in said ‘hood, so I don’t have to redo everything. Also atremendous help to me was loyal reader and good friendjoandsarah77, who extracted all my Sims with SimPE, meaningthat there will be no jarring changes to noses or cheekbones oranything.

It also means that my Sims are up for grabs if you’re interested.

Now, you may be wondering about that cover shot. Well, as it turnsout, there’s a hack that will let you buy craftable items from thecatalog, which I put in for the purposes of restoring inventoryduring the rebuild.

Unfortunately, you get to place them one by one. Which kind ofloses its appeal when you have forty of the same thing. The resultslook more or less like this.

This episode of Goldberg & Silent Lady is brought to you by“Seductive Sage” lingerie, created by natef005 and available onMTS. Just because you’re planning to take it off right away doesn’tmean that it can’t look good.

(in a rapid undertone) natef005 is apparently also known asNatalia. No matter which name the creator uses, they are not awareof this endorsement.

And now, let’s rejoin our story: Already in Progress…

Skye gets a little extra face time this rotation since I shorted her twodays last go round. I shorted her for good reason: I was planning torebuild, and I didn’t see any point starting the spouse hunt whenany possible spouses wouldn’t survive the trip.

I will be playing an Awesomesauce Challenge with Skye, at leastuntil I get bored with it, and that means that she gets to start outwith all the comforts of home: a tent, a cooler, and a toilet bush!

Although Skye did not meet any potential spouses her first day inher new place, she did find out that the newly-generated towniesare surprisingly well-dressed. Look, this fellow’s hat matches hispants!

The second day in her new home saw Skye dyeing her hair -- partlyto honor her recently deceased mother, who had dyed hair from theage of twenty onward, and partly to comply with the rules of thechallenge, which state that this generation is to have as much blueas possible.

Incidentally, “sky blue” is a shade of blue, and Skye herself hasworm blue-based outfits her whole life. See? I know what I’mdoing. (Well, sometimes.)

Also new is the foundation laid out to prepare for future housebuilding.

Skye did try to meet eligible spouses, by fishing at the park -- anexcellent way to socialize with more than one guy at once -- buttwo of the three men pictured have negative chemistry with Skyeand one has neutral. And none of them are wearing blue.

The pool wasn’t much more help. This time, Skye spoke to bothgentlemen wearing blue, and again both had negative chemistry. Infact, the redhead actively heartbarfed her.

Please forgive the lighting. The pool was never intended to be anighttime venue.

Skye found a science job, which was pretty far from her LTW ofbecoming a chef, but a girl’s gotta eat. I have decided to try andspend the home improvement funds on things that Skye rolls upWants for. In this case, that was a car, and cars are not cheap.

Cars require driveways, and driveways are not cheap either.

Skye ended the second bonus day with a whopping bank balance of$65.

I wish I could report a better result for the three days of real play,but this is the closest Skye came to finding a spouse: negative boltswith one man, neutral bolts with the other, and the highestrelationship score is 15.

Since Skye’s been rolling Wants for things like computers (on a$322 per day salary), they have been going unfulfilled. And hersocial meter has gotten so low that she’s been reduced to playingkicky bag with random Teen walkbys.

I guess it’s been so long since I had a proper challenge start thatI’m out of practice.

GOLDBERGAnother assault on Burlesque Row. That’s what, the

fourth in two months?

SILENT LADY considers, then nods.

GOLDBERGSomebody ought to do something. It’s a sin and a

shame that girls have to make their living that way-- they should at least be safe while they’re at it.

Rose, Dmitri, and family moved back into their (freshlyredecorated) home with no issues, and Alexander promptly headedoutside to fly his kite. This is not an interaction I use very often, butAlexander seemed to have a really good time at it. And flying a kitegenerates a “windy” sound effect, which is pretty cool.

Okay, one small issue: Alexander’s cc outfit somehow disappeared.I’ve been clearing out my Downloads folder, and I think Iaccidentally cleared out a file that I need to make the outfit work. Ishould have it fixed soon, but I may leave Alexander in this outfitanyway.

Rose gave Ivan a big dose of Smart Milk, taught him to talk, andput him down for a nap. Then she went outside to push Alexanderon the swings, to their mutual delight. Dmitri stayed indoors andgot a workout in while keeping an ear out for Ivan.

And esmeiolanthe just noticed how bad the chains on the swing setlook. But since everything else looks the same as always, it’sprobably not a problem with my graphics card or anything.

Come evening, Ivan woke up and needed to go potty. Dmitridecided it was a teachable moment.

DMITRI: Wooooooo! Our son is a genius! One hundred percentpotty trained in one sitting? A genius, I tell you, a certified genius!ROSE: Dmitri, he had Smart Milk.DMITRI: Which wore off two hours ago. He’s not glowing at all,look!ROSE: Huh. So he isn’t.DMITRI: What did I tell you? A genius!

Ivan spends a lot of time bonding with both parents. He hasnaptime with Mommy…

…And a Boy Dance Party* with Daddy.

*“Boy Dance Party” was a Saturday Night Live skit not too long ago, and wasone of the only recent ones I’ve enjoyed. There’s a link in the main post forthis chapter on my LJ.

Of course, Ivan is a Toddler now, and Toddlers are not as much funas Babies. And Rose and Dmitri are Family Sims who love Babies.So guess what Want they rolled right away, and guess what theydid about it.

I’ll give you three guesses and the first two don’t count.

GOLDBERGSeriously? I’m not letting you anywhere near places

like that.

SILENT LADY begins to point at him, but GOLDBERGcuts her off.

GOLDBERGNo. Absolutely not. And that’s final.

As GOLDBERG walks away, SILENT LADY turns to watchhim go with narrowed eyes and a scowl.

Abhijeet spent quite a bit of time remaking potions he used to havein stock before the rebuild. They’re the one craftable I can’t restorewith a hack, since I use a pre-Apartment Life magic system.

Leila spent time on the phone, increasing her friend relationshipswith relatives and non-relatives alive. (Her relationships withfamily dropped dramatically during her tenure at the asy -- at theresidential facility for people with psychological differences.*)

*See The Jack Point Home for Pedestrian Playables, available at my LJ.[/shameless self-promotion]

Both Abhijeet and Leila enjoyed getting to know some of theirneighbors, and invited them to come back for the grand re-openingof the business, whenever that happened to be.

And Leila started coaxing Cat out of some of his bad habits.

LEILA: You need to stop sleeping on the bed. When you sleepthere, I can’t.CAT: I always slept there before. That’s MY place.LEILA: It was your place. It’s my place now.CAT: I was here first! You’re just an interloper. He needs ME, notYOU.LEILA: Every time you sleep in your basket instead of on the bed, Iwill give you a fishy treat.CAT: …Well, all right then. If the fishy treats are forthcoming --and you’re quick about it!

BOUNCERHere’s your seat, sir. You can look all you want, ask her

to do whatever you want, but the glass is there to stop youtouching. It’s reinforced and unbreakable, so I don’t

recommend trying anything funny, okay?

GOLDBERG(chuckles weakly)

I don’t think you have to worry.

BOUNCERWe take the safety of our girls very seriously, sir. I

treat them like they were my own sisters.

The Miller family moved back into the newly-restored-after-the-rebuild home, and (as is usual) the day set to Monday, with no workor school.

Frederic’s days off are Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

I play three-day rotations.

So I sent Frederic to work manually. He needs the careeradvancement for his LTW.

For whatever reason (possibly timing?) Celeste’s car pool -- I meanhelicopter pool -- arrived right on schedule, and she was able toplan hostile takeovers on her lunch break, as usual.*

Helen and Isaac had a nice father-daughter day at home.

*Celeste likes to plan hostile takeovers, but has never actually executed one.See “Charades.”

FREDERIC: What are you doing up? It’s after midnight!HELEN: I’m done sleeping.FREDERIC: But you only went to bed four hours ago!HELEN: I’m still done sleeping. And it’s boring having to be quiet.Can we go somewhere?FREDERIC: …Let me get changed.

So Frederic and Helen went to a new lot I’ve built. It has an arcade,a computer/electronics store, and a games club. While Helen playedat the arcade, Frederic made an important stop.

It was particularly important, because on Day Three of the rotation,Helen went from this…

FREDERIC: What are you doing?! You missed the opportunity forthe level-up pellet! It was right there behind the chest!HELEN: If you pick it up, then you can’t get the power sword on thespaceship. The guide said.FREDERIC: Who reads the guides? Real players learn by playing --Isaac! Not the triple jump! (mutters) I married an idiot.

…to this.

HELEN: For me? My very own smartphone?FREDERIC: Yup.HELEN (eagerly): Is it the SPR-DLX, with MMO capability andHeavenedge pre-loaded?FREDERIC: (rolls eyes) Of course. Is there any point in gettinganything less?

Helen is a Pleasure sim who likes mechanical, athletic boys whodon’t wear full-face makeup.

Sadly, Celeste did not live to see her granddaughter become a Teen.In the old ‘hood, she would have made it, but rebuilds mess withlifebars something awful. I can guarantee that she was happy,loved, and loving until the end.

Celeste (Kalson) Miller, age 71 (or so). Celeste was originallyengaged to Oakapple Shankel, but ended up marrying Mr. Way-Too-Nice himself, Edgar Miller. Nobody involved ever regretted itfor a moment, since Eddie and his Heavenly Bride had three, count‘em, three bolts. Celeste was a successful businesswoman, toppingthe career not once, but twice. She loved planning hostile takeoverson her breaks, and she was very bad at charades. She will bemissed.

Goodbye, Celeste. Rest in peace.

As GOLDBERG settles nervously in his seat, “TheStripper” begins to play. The eponymous woman comesout from stage right, back to GOLDBERG. She does aprofessional bump-and-grind to the middle of theprivate booth; the camera focuses on the elaboraterose tattoo in the small of her back as she does so.When she reaches the middle of the booth, she turnsto face GOLDBERG.

GOLDBERGYou?!

Hi Sally! How are you liking your new house?SALLY (V.O.): I love it! It’s exactly perfect for the two of us.I’m glad you like it.SALLY (V.O.): Yes, we like it very much. I think we’re going tobe very happy here.Good!

SALLY (V.O.): We had some of our neighbors stop by after wemoved in. It was nice to meet such pleasant young people. Some ofthem were also new to the street, so we had that in common rightaway.That’s a good start.SALLY (V.O.): Yes, but I think I enjoyed it more than Troy did.Why? He’s Pop, isn’t he?

SALLY (V.O.): Oh yes, he is! But he’s a professional athlete, you know,and sometimes he gets a little tired of people going all fanboy on him.

GLEN SHANKEL*: Oh wow, Mr. Langerak, it’s really you! Wow! Golly,you’re my favorite player! I have your jersey at home. Well, not yoursyours, obviously, because you wear in in games still, but a replica one.Wow. Oh wow. I can’t believe I just said that to you. Esme, you must thinkI’m a complete idiot. Listen to me run on at the mouth!TROY: It’s okay.GLEN: Oh wow, you’re the best, Mr. Langerak! Can I shake your hand?

*Glen comes from Ruth’s (u)OWBC, available at my LJ. [/shameless self-promotion]

SALLY (V.O.): But you know what the best thing was? Troy askedme to marry him!Haven’t you been married for years?SALLY (V.O.): Again! He asked me to marry him again! We’vebeen married for a long time, but he said that he kind of alwaysthought that I thought we were getting married because of Tamara-- which is so not true -- and he said he wanted me to know that hewanted to marry me even with no babies!Aw, that’s so sweet!SALLY (V.O.): I know, right? So we RENEWED our vows.

SALLY (V.O.): Everyone came -- all our friends and neighbors.See, that’s my niece Saigon in the yellow, and my great-nephewChant just there, and his wife Phoebe in the purple.Who’s the lady in pink?SALLY (V.O.): Oh, her name’s Allyn! She and her husband Cecillive just next door, on the corner there. They’re a really sweetcouple, and they have lots of cute cats.*

*See Cecil’s CCL, available on my LJ. [/further self-promotion]

SALLY (V.O.): And Tamara looked like beautiful. She had such alovely new dress -- it really set off her eyes. I told her to bring herroommate too, but she didn’t.Why not?SALLY (V.O.): She said that would make it seem like they were acouple, but they aren’t.*

*See Sun, Moon & Tamara, available on my LJ. [/yet another instance ofegotistical self-promotion]

SALLY (V.O.): We talked about writing our own vows, but wedecided not to. I think there’s something nice about traditions, don’tyou?Yes.SALLY (V.O.): Plus, I write for a living, so there’s quite a bit ofpressure to come up with something really good, and Troy’s anathlete, so people don’t expect him to be able to write anything atall, and we just didn’t want that tsuris.* Not for what’s supposed tobe a fun party.And was it? Fun, I mean?

*tsuris, SOOR-iss: Trouble, aggravation, stress. (Yiddish slang.)

SALLY (V.O.): You bet! Even when it started raining, that didn’tstop the boys from dancing up a storm. See, there’s Troy, and that’sAllyn’s husband Cecil, and that’s Old Adam. He’s Phoebe’s fatherand -- let me see -- and he was my brother Oliver’s brother-in-lawuntil Oliver passed. What relation does that make him to me?Ya got me.

SALLY (V.O.): Well, never mind. We’re some sort of family,anyway, and that’s what counts. Did I tell you I had a chocolatefountain at the wedding?You did not.SALLY (V.O.): I did! I always wanted to go to a party where theyhad one of those, so I made sure we had one! You dip thestrawberries in the chocolate, and it’s delicious. I was afraidsomeone might spike the chocolate with brandy or something, butthey didn’t.

SALLY (V.O.): Oh, look! Here’s when we cut the cake.You shoved it into Troy’s face?SALLY (V.O.): Of course! It was funny.But aren’t you too Nice for that?SALLY (V.O.): We don’t need to symbolize that we’ll take care ofeach other. We know we will, because we already have. (laughs)And you should have seen his face!It sounds like it was a good party.

SALLY (V.O.): Oh, it was a wonderful time! Troy’s already talkingabout our anniversary party, but I think we should wait a little bitfor that. Maybe take a second honeymoon. Or a first honeymoon,really, because we didn’t have a proper honeymoon before.Well, it sounds like things are going well for you. I’ll leave you toyour planning, then.SALLY (V.O.): Okay!

GOLBERGWhat the system crash do you think you’re doing here?

Come out of there right now!

SILENT LADY shakes her head violently. She points atGOLDBERG’S crotch and then cups her own breasts andbounces them emphatically, flinging her hands out andsnorting.

GOLDBERGI know he only goes after girls! I don’t have to be agirl to scope out the place on my own, thanks! Now go

put some clothes on and come out here!

SILENT LADY gives him the finger.

Jo, Phoenix, and Penny decided that they did not need a four-bedroom, three-bath house for just the three of them, and theymoved to a more reasonably-sized house just down the street fromboth Cecil and Skye.

And when I say that they decided, I mean that I decided. I didn’twant to have to redecorate that big farmhouse yet again. From nowon, all building and decorating aside from minor tweaks takes placein the rebuilding ’hood!

Phoenix may be a Romance Sim, but even after the rebuild, he’sclearly the kind who prefers much romance with one person thanmuch meaningless woohoo with a lot of people.

PENELOPE: Yeah, my parents are trying for a Dream Date again.I’m gonna have to hang up now and go put my earphones in.

Penny enjoys talking with her friends on the phone, working on hercar, and playing her mother’s new keyboard. She does not enjoyhomework any more than she used to. I figure she’ll do homeworkevery other day if her Fun meter is high enough, although the pointis somewhat moot since she’s of an age to be heading to Unishortly.

On the other hand, given Penny’s general feelings about academics,I’m thinking maybe she’ll go to a trade school instead? I just can’tsee her in the ivy-covered halls of academia.

Remember how I said Penny enjoyed playing Mom’s newkeyboard? Technically the family has had a keyboard for a while,but in the old house (and the old ’hood), it was rarely played.

Jo also seems to have autonomously decided to take up cooking.She will never go for the leftovers, and she usually makes enoughfor everybody. I’m not sure yet if this is perhaps a midlife change-of-career calling. I suppose we’ll have to wait and see.

Sounds of a scuffle; no dialog.

While most of the Coderc family worked on replacing inventory,Nicholas and Draupadi decided to open a lemonade stand.

This did not really surprise me, since Nicholas has always struckme as something of a natural-born salesman, what with his(possible) mind-control powers and all.

And Nicholas did sell a lot of lemonade that day.

So did Draupadi.

Oddly enough, though, they didn’t end up with any more moneythan they started with. Weird.

The humans in the family need to sleep, but the plantsims don’t.Since they don’t need to sleep, they spent their time under the growlights, repainting the price lists they’ll need when they have enoughstock to reopen the farmstand.

But if the garden wasn’t up to restocking the farmstand quite yet, itwas more than good enough to earn membership in the GardenClub (again) and a wishing well (again). Really, multiple plantsimsmake getting into the Garden Club something of a cakewalk.

Although the household has one fewer plantsim now. Alas, Fantinedid not make it to the next rotation.

Fantine Couderc, age unknown. Fantine was the plantbaby spawnedby Oliver Couderc not long before his marriage to OakappleShankel, and the mother to Chant Couderc. She was a Family Simwho never even got her First Kiss, and she tended to complain atevery opportunity. This was my fault, since I didn’t find her asinteresting as I could have.

I’m sorry, Fantine. Rest in peace.

GOLDBERG (V.O.)Isn’t… Isn’t that the bouncer from The Gypsy?

GOLDBERG (V.O.)Do I want to know what happened to his sisters?

At the House of the Double A’s But No Longer a B,* things aremoving at a more sedate pace. Amy finally retired from the SWATteam after an unfortunate incident with an artist’s articulatedwooden model.** Breaking down doors with guns blazing is ayounger person’s game, and Amy is happy to leave them to it. Nowshe putters about in the garden instead.

*You can see Bryan in his very own spinoff: Movin’ On Up!, available at myLJ.**Or, you know, after the game consistently crashed when I tried to forceElder!Amy into an Adult!Career.

Sometimes her TV star son comes over and shares all theTinseltown gossip, which amuses her greatly.*

*I did mention that Bryan has his own spinoff, right? It’s written in the style ofan 80’s sitcom, and is exactly as erudite and Byzantine as you would expectfrom something based on that template.

Adam is thrilled to have Amy home and safe now, and he shows hishappiness by feeding her. It’s not doing her figure any favors, andof course Adam gave up on his slim girlish figure years ago.

In fact, the only one in the house with no weight gain is bottemlesspit Theodore, who cheerfully consumes five times his body weightin kibble every single day.

Seriously, you give him ten simoleons’ worth of food, and threeminutes later, he’s hungry again.

GOLDBERGListen, I uh. I want to say uh. I want to say that.

SILENT LADY waits patiently.

GOLDBERGI want to say that I’m sorry I didn’t let you helpfrom the beginning. And I don’t usually go into

those places. At all. I don’t go in at all. I thinkthey’re kind of horrible, actually. And I definitely

didn’t look at your tataus at all either.

SILENT LADY smiles indulgently, pats him on theshoulder, and walks past him to the bookcase.

At the Wheeler household, the kids are making friends with eachother (like Lavinia and Trudy in the back there) and with kids fromschool (like Paul and Nicholas in the front).

It never fails to amuse me how little the Sims care aboutstereotypical gender roles. When I was growing up, handclapgames were strictly for girls. Boys wouldn’t have been caught deadplaying one, although Red Hands was acceptable because itinvolved hitting someone else very hard.

Dongsool invited a classmate over to give him Smustling lessons,but his natural talents do not lie in that direction,and his classmatewas rather less than patient and encouraging.

DONGSOOL’S CLASSMATE: What do you call that one? TheSpaz Attack? (snickers)

I am well aware that “spaz” and “spastic” are rude and insultingterms. Dongsool’s classmate is not a very nice person at all, andthat is why he was asked to leave a few short minutes after makingthe comment. Nor will he be invited back if I have anything to sayabout it.

The family makes a point of having breakfast together everymorning, even in it means that people have to run for the carpool orthe school bus. Professor Douglas generally does the cooking, andLavinia is usually the only one to finish her entire meal. She’s alsothe only one who sprays food everywhere and talks with her mouthfill. I wonder if the two things are related?

Indeed, the least functional members of this household are theadults.

PROFESSOR DOUGLAS: Augh! Firefirefire!CATHERYNNE: Weren’t you watching the stove?!PROFESSOR DOUGLAS: Me watch the stove? I thought you werewatching the stove!CATHERYNNE: Why would I be watching the stove? You weredoing that!

Fortunately, they have a fire alarm, and the fire was put out in shortorder. And that’s me out of pictures again, so I’d best wrap this up.

Sally’s renewal of her vows may or may not be due to the fact thatsomehow during the rebuild I forgot to make her married to Troy.Also, I may have indulged in some picspam with their weddingpictures. But I admit nothing!

“Burlesque” is a theatrical form that eventually became strippingand pole dancing, but it’s classier than either. Also, the songmentioned in the Goldberg & Silent Lady sequence, “The Stripper,”is a real song. The most famous recording is by David Rose & HisOrchestra. It sounds exactly like you would expect a song called“The Stripper” to sound, and there’s a link in the main post for thischapter.

Until next time, Happy Simming!

The Goldberg and Silent Lady sections used a lot of custom content andposeboxes. All custom content is from Mod The Sims unless otherwiseindicated. In addition to the items advertised at the beginning and contentadvertised in other episodes, I used:“Timeless Office” set by jgwoodsLong drapes and recolors by KiaraRawks“Hacked Coat Hook” by Mary-Lou and Numenor“Custom Modeling Poses Hack V2 w/Facial Overlays” by decorgal21572SimBlender by TwoJeffs, from Simbology“Fashion Show Controller” by Paladin, from SimWardrobe“Sailor Jerry Tattoos Vintage Tattoos ThatReally Stick!” and “Maxis TattoosThat Really Stick!” overlay boxes by SpaceDollThe Lean Body Builder bodyshape by Marvine and BeosBoxBoy fromInsiminator, with recolors/outfits by sgoobysnacks29 (Insiminator) andengelchen (All 4 Ssims)