01-04. Child Care and a Ghost Orphan

Quin went through a second day with his Child Care Center. The playpen will be a lifesaver until I can figure out how to tend these 3 toddlers. Quin has two clients and a toddler son of his own.

Luis, Laurel and Quin's son, is learning his skills quickly. Luis played peek-a-boo with Sam in the playpen.

Sandi started out in the playroom with a snack. Then she went straight for the skill toys.

Once the two client toddlers got into the playpen together, they began learning to talk and their Charisma skill increased. The playpen also kept their moods up.

They worked on the abacus for Logic too. But they still had potty accidents. Quin still hasn't been able to get those two potty trained, but Luis learned the skill today, thank goodness!

The clients had a great time though. Laurel didn't have to go to work that day, so she helped by nursing Luis and bottle feeding the other two clients. But Quin was still exhausted by the end of the day.

I made sure Quin spent some time with his own son, and their relationship improved.

_____
Meanwhile, just out of curiosity, I checked out ghosts around town. Here's Lolita Goth, a YA who died by electrocution. She's buried in the Goth family graveyard.

Anabelle Oinkslopes also died of electrocution. She's another YA, but she's buried in the city cemetery.

Tragic Clown (adult) is buried in the Sunset Valley cemetery. He died of drowning. An interesting character. I also found a little girl haunting the cemetery. Opal Suarley died by drowning. She has no known parents. Poor little thing. No family, living or dead.

I caught this starved adult ghost, Joel Astroman sneaking up on Opal and scaring her.

That's when I decided that Laurel and Quin would rescue the ghost orphan and adopt her into the family!

01-16. Companionship

Sims are social creatures, no doubt about it. Just like in real life, they crave companionship. Even Loners want to know someone cares about them and accepts them for who they are. Di is no exception.

Old Miss Piper had been living in the swamp with Dudley. Now she's part of a large household. Piper has no desire to hunt or perform tricks. Her wishes are all about getting to know the other members of her new family.

Poirot and Marple have taken up their old friendship quickly. They sleep beside each other.

And when they wake up, they rush off to play together.

What could be more fun than goofing around with your best buddy!

Well, Poirot does seek out other animals to interact with. I noticed a new squirrel had appeared under the cemetery tree. Poirot noticed too.

But this time, he was content just to watch the little fellow like the dogs do. Good luck Chitter!

I was glad to see that Poirot chose to play with fake prey for now. 

All in all, he seems happy in his new home. Poirot is a Proud cat: neat, tidy, and clean.

Anna is enjoying herself as a roommate too. She's taken a fancy to Dudley. 

And he doesn't mind one bit. Anna is a Schmoozer and Dudley is Easily Impressed. 

Anna seeks out his company often. Chocolate pie always tastes best when shared with someone else. 

Di and Anna always got along when they lived together before, but now Di is feeling more like a third wheel.

Dudley has no idea he's become the center of feminine turmoil.

Di dances by herself. That's what Loners tend to do, right? At least Marple came in to howl along to the music.

And what's that song playing on the stereo? Everybody's Got Somebody But Me!

Di needed a distraction, so she headed out to the nearby park. She found a friend to seesaw with.

And she played with the baby chicks--even discovered an exotic egg.

Di ended her day picnicking by herself though. Alone again, naturally. But Di realized she was fine with that. After all, not everyone's a Social Butterfly. 

01-15. Doctor Watson in Residence

Dr Watson may not be helping Sherlock Holmes solve crimes at the moment, but he's still eager to assist. Besides being level 5 in his medical career, Watson serves as butler and pet sitter for the household. And if I gave him a gardening chip, he'd probably take care of the plants too. But Di's the family gardener.

When the others can only chew their fingernails over broken appliances ...

 ...Watson rushes over without delay to Reassemble Components.

 And he doesn't consider the job done until all puddles are mopped.

 Dirty dishes left on the table? Watson's got that covered.

He'll even fix those annoying faucet geysers, no matter how many times they erupt.

Watson is there when a pet needs a soft touch and a kind word.

He's there even when they don't need him. Miss Marple got grungy while digging around for collectibles. Everyone insisted on giving her a bath. They kept picking her up before she could make it to the Pet Hydrogenator. 

Watson was disappointed that Di claimed Marple first. Why should an old ghostly has-been get to bathe little Miss Marple? ...And notice Watson's super power: he can draw solar energy into his personal battery cells. 

 Marple didn't really mind the attention, and Di was gentle with her. But they did leave water puddles behind.

 No problem. Watson followed them to the tub and cleaned up the splashes.

The only annoying thing that Dr Watson does is drain power from electronics. He has a brand new charging station with his name on it, but he prefers to renew his energy in a more dramatic way.

Watson has a Friendly chip installed, so he enjoys having visitors over. Although, I do have to wonder what he finds to talk about. Making beds? Washing sheets? Improving his beside manner?

 When family members are occupied with their own concerns, Dr Watson doesn't mind communing with his pet sprite. The little green hologram is a captive audience after all.

01-14. Life Goes On

With the arrival of the three new roommates, the Riddle-Racket home is a full house once again. Will the Loner Di be able to cope with so much ruckus? Can she find some time to herself?

And what about the pets? The two troublemakers seem to be Spade the husky and Poirot the cat. Can they get along? Is it a coincidence that these two are both males? Surely not! They're just self-assertive, that's all.

Miss Marple, the little English Spaniel, wonders why Poirot is following Spade. Just wanting to annoy him probably. Up to no good, that snooty cat!

But Spade is ignoring Poirot for the most part now. He'd rather bark at fridges and TVs.

Piper, the elder female dog, spends time resting in her favorite spot, the coveted pet house. She's very close to Dudley, but she's also making friends with the other pets, including Poirot. And he tolerates her pretty well too.

Poirot also socializes with Miss Marple. He remembers her from when he first came to the Riddle home back in the very beginning.

But Poirot keeps himself to himself most of the time.

When Watson the plumbot isn't working, he busies himself with housekeeping. He likes to do the laundry.

And he makes the beds even when someone's still sleeping in one.

Watson is also obsessed with putting pet toys back in the toy boxes.

But he makes a good chess partner for Dudley, who needs to improve his logic skill for work. I noticed Watson talking to Dudley about love. Maybe he was sharing a romantic secret because the next thing I knew ...

... Anna was flirting outrageously with Dudley! It must have been those red long johns. A real turn on, no doubt.

So it appears that Di may have a little competition for Dudley's attention. Finding time alone may not be Di's main concern with having Anna as a boarder.

Di: I saw you getting cozy with Dudley, Anna Riddle! You just remember now, I saw him first.
Anna: Humph! He's a grown man. He can make his own decisions. So don't you go getting uppity with me, missy!

Di's days are full though. She had to repair a leaky faucet herself. Watson was at work at the time.

Dear old Di gets confused on her own, especially about what she should be wearing for different activities.

But she likes to exercise, ballet being a favorite pastime for her.

Di also started up painting as a hobby. Dudley will soon need to study painting too--for his DNA Profiling job.

But there's nothing more relaxing for Di than slipping into her swimsuit and napping in the rocker.

Dudley practices computer chess and listens to tab casts in logic. He's recently gained more points in the skill.

He's currently at level 4 in his Law career. Dudley has quite a ways to go, but he's progressing quickly now.

He received an opportunity to learn martial arts for work. That earned him another raise and more experience.

All in all, life isn't so terrible for Dudley right now, even though aging to elder did come as an unexpected shock!