For some reason I find myself focusing on Rainer at the moment - perhaps he's the new shiny toy? Or perhaps I am just waiting for him to slip up lol. He hasn't, not yet anyway.

When you concentrate on a sim as much as I am on Rainer, you start to notice minor... imperfections. Rainer isn't the most "buff" sim in town, and for some reason it was starting to bug me. He was also unemployed, but thankfully already had the desire to become a world class chef, and with encouragement from Emily, is on his way to making that goal happen. I'm sure that will make Emily happy, she can't stop eating at the moment. Lucky for Rainer, there is also a way to address his cuddly features, and it's called the Gym!

By the way he ran on the treadmill, he had clearly never seen the inside of one before lol. It was amusing if not a little pathetic. For the first time this week however, I had another sim distract me from Rainer - and it wasn't even a sim I control. Nope, it was this guy:

I have a funny feeling that Aion is going to distract me quite a bit for a little while - the freshness that comes with a new game, the joy of being back in a MMORPG and all that. But I'm not going to be neglecting or forgetting my sims just yet. Even when I was playing Aion last night, I couldn't help but sit here wondering how Melani was going to cope with all those children. Or how Emily was going trying to find a man.

Of course, one sim who I haven't check in on in a while is Max. After he reached the max level of his music career and became a big pop star, there wasn't really much more for me to do with him. Sure I could raise his fitness levels and such, but where's the fun in just getting up and going to the gym each day, every day, all day. Of course, my husband is probably reading that right now going "Um... nothing?! What are you kidding me woman?!" lol. But I hate exercise enough as it is, I'm not going to sit here and watch my sims do it lol.

Of course, what makes a sim's live interesting? Families!! Girlfriends, wives, kids! All the things that cause mass amounts of chaos, and all the things I have purposely avoided with Max. I started wondering if I should just cave and let poor kid laden down Melani version 2 move in. Ironically, she has I think 5 kids now? 3 to Max and I think another two to her husband Eric lol. Clearly no matter where she's located, Melani is just a walking child machine.

When I consider hooking them up however, in comes that whole "I don't want to play two Melanis" factor. I mean, it gets confusing for me, I can't imagine what it does to you poor readers lol. No, I'm going to make Max stay away from the Melani in his town from now on I think. Just stick to playing one Melani for now. Which means... I need to find Max a new woman! All the ones he's been attracted to so far have out-aged him by two stages, so they are no longer eligible in my books. Young Adult and Elder? Yuck lol.

So I sent Max into town, to the Bistro which seemed to the gathering place of the evening and let him run loose talking to anyone and everyone. Remembering my theory - how some sims are just meant to be - I noticed he was getting along particularly well with one sim. I think Max has found his mate!!

That right there is Bella Bachelor lol! And they are hitting it off BIG TIME. I've never followed any of the PC controlled families before, but even I know that name and know that Max is stealing her away from some other guy in town haha. Awesome!

I don't think who ever it is will have much of a chance now that Max has worked his moves on her though - I think she's in luuuuuurve.

I'll be very interested to see where this goes now lol. I'm all excited that he's stealing someone elses woman - and in a good way, not like he did with Melani and Eric lol. I did make Max ask if Bella was single, and she still is currently. Which makes her fair game! I love the name Bella, I think the sim version is really pretty and of course, she's not an elder yet so she ticks all my approval boxes!!

Hrm, I might just have to stick around Max for a bit and see what happens next...

After leaving Melani a few days ago to work out what to do about Hal after discovering more about him seconds after his furniture was placed, I decided it would be a good idea to stick my head back in and see how she was coping. I'm very happy to report that it all appears to be smooth sailing at the moment. Yay.

A house of 6 is quite a handful I must say. By the time I get through queueing up all the tasks for one sim and work my way down the list, it's time to go back up to the top and start again. The good thing is that both Seth and Ricky are at school, and Hal has a job (that's at least one plus), so during the middle of the days it's just Audrey (grandma) and new addition Muhammad at home. So really, not unlike when grandma was at home with baby Ricky. Nice and easy.

For a child that could have been made to feel neglected and unwanted, the entire family have shown their just how wonderful they can be and embraced him as one of their own. The boys happily include him in any suitable games they play, and although Melani has been preoccupied, she hasn't forgotten his arrival and makes time to get to know him. Audrey, as warm and loving as any grandma could be, happy takes care of him during the day, and even spends some time sitting down and watching his favourite cartoons on TV... naaaw.

The poor bugger though, a single day after he moved in, I had the message pop up that it was his birthday and he had already aged up. Normally you get a warning message a day or two before hand so you can organise a party, but because he wasn't part of my family until the day of his birthday, Melani got no such warning. Instead, I was just presented with the following:

My heart did break a little when I saw that due to his difficult upbringing his traits could not be chosen. While Melani refuses to take any blame as it was up to Hal to do the right thing, she can't help but look at the happy childhood her own children have had so far and feel it's unfair that Muhammad didn't experience the same. In that moment, she decided that she would throw a belated birthday party for Muhammad!!

I have a funny feeling he's going to have a very good life regardless of what's happened so far. Apart from the fact he's in a loving family now, he's a really good looking kid! He's going to drive the ladies wild!!

I did notice that there was no interaction between Hal and Muhammad when he aged. I thought that was a little odd for a father and child. I checked his relationship status and noticed that Muhammad in fact dislikes Hal. How sad!! I'll have to work at fixing that I think - Melani will nag Hal until he rectifies his relationship with him lol.

I also had to laugh when I noticed that Hal doesn't like Jebidiah haha!!

He has to be feeling pretty happy that he got the girl in the end though. And he appears to be openly showing his affections towards Melani as well as both Seth and Ricky, which makes me really pleased. Especially as he's never really spent any time with his two older boys before.

The entire family decided to take a trip into town as there was a cook-off happening and it sounded like a fun family outing. I'm not too sure how they all fit into Melani's Prias, but doesn't it make for a cute family shot?

The cook-off lasted well into the night, which was no problem as it was a weekend. Melani and Hal took some time to get close and comfy while the children ran around and played. I like the image of flowers above Hal's head!

And I had to laugh when I saw the thought bubble during one of their many kisses - it appears everything tastes like chicken... lol!

Muhammad also appears to be very accepting of Melani's impending pregnancy. Yes, the toilet bowl party was pregnancy related as I expected. Upon announcing it to Hal, he was very pleased, and of course both Seth and Ricky are excited at the possibility of having a little sister... with three boys already, I think everyone is hoping for a girl this time.

Then again, take a look at Muhammad's eyes in this shot. I didn't even realise he was standing in it when I captured it...

Maybe he's not so accepting of it all? Or maybe he's just turning evil with all that's happened so far in his life. What ever it is, it's creepy as hell!

Outside of that minor issue however, I'm VERY pleased to report that it's all happy families over at the Banks residence! Melani and Hal are getting along marvelously, while Grandma is still going strong and painting up a storm. Seth, Ricky and now Muhammad all appear to be coping at school, with Seth and Ricky excelling. And at the end of the day, while Melani cooks dinner and Hal makes his way home from work, the three kids sit down together and do what all good kids should do - their homework!

Chatting to Umi and Alter the other day, I learnt that there is a Mysterious Mr. Gnome in game - and he moves around! Umi, or Alter (I wasn't sure who I was talking to) have two of these little guys and shared an image of them frolicking in the garden. After seeing that image, I just had to get me one of these guys.

I did some investigating and discovered that the Mysterious Mr.Gnome is nameable which is kinda cool. He is dressed in a very trendy orange hat that has a yellow star shaped flower on it with a brown center. He also sports a long gray beard, blue button down shirt, red pants and shoes of an odd brown-tan colour. Clearly a trend setter this guy.

The Mysterious Mr.Gnome is kickable (lol!), like any good gnome should be. But unlike the regular garden gnome you can purchase, he cannot be cloned with the eyedropper tool. He also has the habit of sneaking around your house. How cool! Unnerving, but then aren't all garden gnomes?

Apparnetly you will never see the gnome sneaking around, instead, he just pops up in all sorts of places that you never put him in. If kicked, he falls in odd positions that you would never expect from a gnome and sometimes ends up with a plaster across the bridge of his nose (har har). When picked up, he is known to float on air, do hand stands and assume other theatrical positions.

With Tom clearly out of the running to be Emily's new husband, the girl has been prowling the town looking for a better candidate. After stopping in at the local diner for diner one night (soup can only be eaten so many days in a row), she literally stopped every single male in the area, introduced herself and asked their marital status. If they were single, she stopped to talk. If they weren't, she walked away with barely a goodbye. This was a woman on a mission!

While in the middle of introducing herself to one of the men there, her attention was immediately grabbed by a Fabio look a like who had just walked up to the diner doors. I don't believe she even got the name of the sim she was currently standing in front of, for her jaw dropped when she realised this handsome god of a sim was wearing... a tool belt. Never before had she been so attracted to a sim other than Adrian. Good looks and he was handy?! She couldn't be that lucky...

And no, she wasn't. It seems Mr Fabio wanna-be there is already taken. I considered whispering in her ear that it didn't matter and to pursue it anyway, but Emily's a good girl. And he didn't really seem that interested lol.

After introducing herself to another five or so men, Emily was feeling deflated and questioning the gods if there were any eligible men left in town. It was at that moment, when she was about to hail a cab and just go home, that she met Rainer. Interestingly enough, Rainer introduced himself to her. The first man she didn't have to chase down to get their name lol. Tired, deflated and feeling very sorry for herself, she half-heartedly asked if he was single... he was!

Hearing that unexpected answer, her mood immediately picked up and she proceeded to introduce herself properly. Right away these two hit it off, with the conversation flowing and the body language saying it all.

Emily was clearly interested and liked what she saw as she kept having Rainer's image pop up with a smiley face beside it. Either that or she was just happy to finally found a sim that was worth talking to lol. I personally can't see what she might see in him, he's certainly not my type of sim. Thankfully though, I'm not the one needing the man...

Rainer liked being liked it seems, as every time Emily paused and "checked him out" as per the image above, Rainer would lean in real close and just smile.

All of a sudden, Emily had the image of a steak dinner pop up. Now, she had just eaten, so she couldn't be hungry. Perhaps she might be thinking she's happy she came here for dinner? But I don't remember the deep fried diner serving steak last time I went there. Maybe she's thinking that the two of them should go out to dinner? You think? Or maybe, just maybe, given her current mind set, she sees him as nothing more than a piece of meat?

Apparently though, Rainer is ok with this line of thought LOL!

Given how late it was getting, and the fact that she had two kids at home waiting for her, Emily decided she should call it a night and say goodbye. Feeling lucky, and having such success with Rainer so far, Emily approached a 'first kiss' to say goodnight...

Unfortunately for her, this was not on the cards so early in the game. Upset and feeling shut down, Emily hoped that perhaps this just meant Rainer was a gentleman? Then again... maybe not?

Right as she was leaving, Rainer stopped her and asked for money?! Shocked and taken by surprise, Emily didn't give him any, thankfully. But, what a scum bag! Oh the poor girl, suddenly I could see her questioning their interactions and how agreeable he was to all of her thoughts and interest. This man doesn't care about a relationship at all! He just wants to know how deep her pockets might run!

Well I hope you realise you just waisted your time barking up the wrong money tree Rainer, you couldn't have picked a poorer sim in town! Now bugger off scumbag!!

Oh poor Emily...

Melani, needing to clear her head last night, decided to take a bit of a job around town. It drives me nuts that not only does a sim's body bounce back to perfect as they exit the hospital after giving birth, but the fact that unless they eat copious amounts of ice cream, they stay pretty perfect. If they are going to have perfect bodies, I'm going to make it believable and punish them with hour long runs around town!

Of course, in doing that, you get to see more of the town. Have you ever found little things that kind of made you go "wow" or, "hey look at that"? I did!!

The first was a bit of a wow moment. After all I can be riding my pushbike, have a car pass through me and come out with out a single scratch. Yet, it seems not all sims are model drivers...

Thought that was kinda cool that not only has a sim driven off the road, but that the car has just been left there. I mean, have you seen so much as a dropped candy wrapper on the streets of town? And all the random picnics that pop up and not one scrap of food or wrappers is left behind? I guess cars a bit hard to poof and disappear...

On the "hey look at that factor", I actually did a double take after running past the following statue...

Pretty cool huh?

Just some sights I thought I'd share...

Max was loitering around town the other day when I noticed a lot of red on the screen.

That's a lot of hate right there. Apparently it was upset Pauline Wan day as it was all directed at her. She was oblivious and having a conversation with the only sim that was happy with her presence while everyone behind her had some serious hate happening.

I've not yet seen this before. Even Max got in on the action with some upsetting of his own - completely without my involvement.

One sim was SO upset by Pauline being there that she could barely stand it...

As soon as Pauline left, everything went back to normal. It was so bizarre lol.

Max, not used to being intentionally nasty must have directed a few words the wrong way as I also got the following wish pop up.

I don't ever remember speaking to Jamie lol, but like all good men should, I simply apologized anyway! =p