With the kids appearing to be ok with all that's happened to them, and the house clearly in need of repairs (or upgrades), Emily has decided it's time to get her life back on track. Time to pick herself back up, get back out in the world and start living her life again, before she knows it, her life could well be over. She's approaching her adult years at a pace too quick her for comfort, she doesn't want to spend the rest of what she's got left mulling around the house and just surviving.

Adrian caused her heartache after heartache while he was alive, and his insane father made her life miserable. She survived all of that, so she knows she's a strong woman. She can do this on her own!

The first step she decided, was to get a better job. The Supermarket was fine for a bit of spare change, but when you're working beside teenagers the same age as your own child, it can make you feel a bit pathetic. Don't get me wrong, everyone was lovely and supportive, but Emily needed to find a proper career for her own self esteem.

Emily's no gold digger, but she the added lure of a man with money was something she couldn't resist. That very same night Emily decided to make her feelings very clear. Unfortunately for her, Tom wasn't reciprocating to her advances and jumped all over the place with his reactions. He attacked her child raising skills, then complimented her. Insulted her, then tried to kiss her. The poor girl's head was just about spinning.

Emily decided she was going to find out where she stood once and for all. She spoke to him about her family, her desires for more children, her concerns over finances and... she was cut off. Tom interrupted the conversation to accuse of her being after his money. After all, he did only reveal that fact earlier in the night, and even the kids could see the obvious switch in Emily when she found that out, I can see how he might jump to that conclusion.

Unfortunately, for Tom, this sent Emily over the edge. She went ballistic at him, accusing him of being evil, insulting him, and at one point even tried to fight him. This went on for a few minutes before Emily declared Tom her nemesis and told him to leave!

And that was the end of that relationship... lol. I can't say I'm too upset, he stole candy from her child for goodness sakes. She knew he was evil, what was she thinking? Really...

A while ago now I asked you, the readers (all 3 of you heh) for your input on a potentially new relationship for Emily. Tom Shallow (see his posts so far) came into Emily's life when Grandpa Sim electrocuted himself. At first he seemed to be very caring for Emily, staying well into the night when Grandpa died. Then again, he did cackle when the actual dying happened which raised some eyebrows. So I put to to you guys on what Emily should do. Most voted "just see what happened" so I left it alone.

Last night however, Emily had a wish to call Tom. I was curious to fulfill that wish so dropped what I was doing and jumped right on it lol. For the record, do not interrupt the emptying of a full potty!! So anyway, Tom arrives and this is the greeting she receives...

How's that for a hello?! I was actually quite shocked at that lol. Either he's just been biding his time waiting for enough to pass so he could make his move, or he's just a sleaze?

Emily, clearly thrown by the interaction lurches into five minutes of incessant rambling (game description not mine lol) and clearly Tom is wondering what the hell he's gotten into. I'm thinking more along the lines of "just a sleaze" with this face...

I had to jump in and stop Emily as she was starting to embarrass us both. I prompted her to ask Tom a few questions and get him talking - how was his day, favourite things, trait compatibility... that sort of thing. What did we learn?

That's right... Tom is EVIL! Poor Emily just seems attracted to the bad boys, and I don't mean the good kind of bad guy that rides a motorcycle and is a bit scruffy in the sexy kind of way. This is the bad kind of bad boy! I almost found it amusingly fitting when that info popped up... almost. Strangely enough it kind of makes me want to pursue the relationship a bit as it would be fitting to have Emily gravitate towards another Evil sim after the loss of Adrian.

That was until, this little tidbit of information popped up.

Makes you question that greeting now doesn't it? This guy is married... and greets other women with big smooches? That man is evil!!

I didn't get a chance to play last night as I had some work I needed to do, and while I normally let one of my families run on their own for a bit, I really wanted distraction free time. It was a good move as I got what I wanted done, which means I will be able to play tonight without the guilts! Yipee!

I figured, I might use this down time to make sure no one's missed any blog posts over the past few days. There sure has been a lot of them!! Two days I did 5 blog posts per day!! That's how much has been happening in my Sims lives recently. And oddly enough, all in the Waters household, which I find very ironic given they were a family I had no intention of actually "playing" as such.

It's also a little annoying as they were the family I was going to let run free and decide their own lives. To help with the "they are their own Sims" mentality, I also decided not to have any say in what they looked like, or how they dressed. (Which explains why Adrian used to wear a Tuxedo to bed...) I wanted them to really be their own selves, and as such, went with the default settings for everything. So now, my most interesting family is also the one that I can't stand looking at LOL!

I have a thought about that though. Since the family has moved away from autonomous play slightly, and become a family I am now controlling to a certain degree, coupled with all the recent tragedies, I'm thinking I can tweak looks a bit and incorporate it into the story line.

I'm of two minds. I could...

1. Take the recent events and have them make Emily stronger. Sort of like the "I am a survivor" kinda attitude and as a result, have Emily stand up, take control of her life and get it all fixed. Which could also include some plastic surgery (my excuse to change facial features) and get a new wardrobe. I mean really, she's not the prettiest Sim in town.
   
   or
   
   
2. I could leave her as is, deal with the fact not all Sims are born beautiful and continue playing the family as I have been. That is, letting Emily continue choosing her own life pattern and following what ever path she chooses. Even if that path leads right into the gutter.

• Bye Bye Adrian...
• Adrian's Funeral...
• Adrian's Burial Plot
• Thomas has a birthday...
• Bye Bye Grandpa...
• Susie Waters has her Birthday...
• Grandpa Waters gets buried...

My first blog poll! Are you as excited as I am?! To christen the blog, the first poll is based on the unexpectedly exciting Waters family. If you've read the previous couple of days blog posts, you'll know that Adrian died, had a funeral and was buried. Emily couldn't hack Adrian's death and quit her job, Thomas had a birthday and then Grandpa sim died. Yes, all of this in under a week Sim time...

At Adrian's Funeral, Emily met Tom Shallow. She had an immediate desire to chat to him again, and because of this wish, he was present when Grandpa Sim died. He showed an evil side by laughing at it too!!

At first, I was thinking Emily should pursue a relationship with Tom, be it rebound fling or potential new husband. He looked like a very straight cut nice guy, someone that might suit Emily and give her the life she deserved. But now, after that evil cackle, I'm not so sure.

So, this story line is like one of those books where you make choices along the lines and, depending on the choice you make, the story takes different twists and turns.

It is with great shock that I have to announce, Grandpa Sim is... dead. In the space of 24 hours for me, and less than a week for the Waters family, we have lost two members. Ironically, both the INSANE members of the house hold, so what does that tell you? It doesn't pay to talk to yourself too much...

Wanting to help out Emily as much as he could since the loss of Adrian, Grandpa Sim jumped in to fix the dishwasher that had just broken. As mentioned earlier, Grandpa has been wanting to help a lot since Adrian's passing, constantly wanting to clean up around the house. And of course, he was always wanting to fix the TV when that broke, so I felt it was the best thing to let him have a go at the dishwasher. I felt like he needed to do this.

Perhaps I should have paid closer attention to that gut feeling however. While off putting Susie back into her crib for the night, I heard a very loud crackle come through my headphones. I immediately slammed down on the pause key, the thought of "OMG I know that sound!!!" came rushing into my head the same time my stomach flip flopped. Right clicking on Grandpa Sim's icon, my eyes nearly popped out of my head when I saw this:

Oh... my... gawd!! This can't be happening!! Not again?! What sort of electrical wiring does this house HAVE?! As I took off the pause, I immediately started recording. Adrian had been taken so quickly, and Grandpa was an older Sim, but Melani back in Sunset Valley had poked her laptop three times and lived to tell the tale. Unfortunately, Grandpa would follow in the footsteps of his son...

Did you notice the same things in that video as me? There's the OBVIOUS cackle that came from Tom Shallow, a guest of Emily's. Emily met him at Adrian's funeral of all places, and immediately after had a wish pop up to chat to him. Because she was a bit low on the fun meter after spending all day working on her novel (she so needs the money), I thought I would invite him over so she could have some fun. I had planned to see what would happen between the two of them, but after that evil display of hysteria at Grandpa's death... I'm not so sure.

Then again, if you watch closely right after Emily comes into the kitchen, you will notice she too laughs!! She has a the icon of the broken dishwasher above her head, so I can't tell if she's just happy she'll get to wash all the dishes by hand from now one (she is a neat freak), or if her plans to let Grandpa Sim fix the broken dishwasher turned out. Like, mwahaha it worked! The dishwasher got him!

It soon hits her however that she's just lost her live in babysitter and the tears begin. What WILL she do now?! Nothing like a good nights sleep to make you feel better though, so she puts Thomas back into his crib and falls crawls into bed herself.

Tom Shallow decides it might be a good idea to stick around. For what I'm not sure. Either to make sure poor Emily is ok being somewhat alone in a house that three adults resided in not this time last week. Or perhaps he's more evil than I give him credit for and he's seeing an easy, pre-made family ready for the picking...?