I’d never experienced summer in the desert before, but waking up under a heavy blanket on Sunday morning, I felt like a lobster that had been dropped into a pot of boiling water. My skin was hot and clammy, my flannel pajama bottoms were sticking to my legs, and I thought I was going to pass out from heat stroke.
I quickly sought shelter and changed into shorts and a tank top. Before Kylie came out of the tent, she had changed out of her heavy pajamas, too. It wasn’t exactly cool inside, but at least they didn’t have the sun beating down on them. I hope this is just a temporary heat wave because this is miserable.
I still wasn’t feeling great but I forced myself to eat some yogurt for breakfast.
As I was taking a tepid bath to cool down, Cole knocked on the door, saying, “Are you almost done in there? I really need to pee and take a bath. I stink!”
“Sorry, buddy,” I said as I walked out of the bathroom. I chuckled, waving my hand in front of my face as Cole walked by me. “You’re right — you are a stinker! This heat is brutal, huh?”
“It sure is!”
After my bath, I cloudgazed for a few minutes, trying to get some inspiration to paint. I came up with an idea and picked up my paintbrush.
Unfortunately, the picture in my mind didn’t exactly match the one on the canvas. I suck! This is so frustrating!
It was a little better than my first effort, but not by much. I’d better keep practicing.
While I painted, Cole cleaned up our yard. It had become littered with empty bowls from breakfast and even a leftover plate from dinner. None of us had cleaned up after ourselves because we all needed the bathroom first thing in the morning. So, the dishes weren’t a priority at the time.
Cole was in a good mood because he had gotten an ‘excellent’ on his school project and was now an ‘A’ student. Kylie’s project was graded as ‘good’ and she currently had a ‘B+’ in school. I guess I should’ve helped Kylie more than I did.
I gave painting another go and ended up with another amateur pink flower for my efforts.
I decided to give it one more try before taking a break to eat. I was getting pretty hungry. The results were … meh.
I had another Spice Festival leftover and was anxious to try dango. The sweet, chewy Japanese dumplings were yummy, and I wanted to try making them someday.
Kylie had spent most of the day fishing at her favorite spot. When Cole finished doing the dishes, he joined her. They both reeled in a bunch of small fish, and Kylie even caught a lemon and an electronic part.
Kylie also managed to catch three tuna — no small feat, considering the size of them.
I could see that the garden needed attention, so I got down on my hands and knees and yanked out the weeds that had started growing around the first lemon tree I’d planted.
After the kids got back with their haul, I Googled what everything was worth. They had been fascinated with frog breeding and wanted in on the action. So, I had given them each a couple of frogs after breeding my own. I was amazed at how much money we were able to raise just from breeding Dirtwhirl frogs! In total, we had earned $1,586 from our efforts today, and that didn’t even include what I’d earned from painting.
From today’s five paintings, I had a net gain of $299. I also sold the first poor-quality painting I’d made for $42. It really wasn’t worth the canvas I’d used to paint it. All in all, I’d made a 73% return on investment. I should consider a business career. I’m getting pretty good at making money.
After selling nearly everything we’d accumulated over the last two days, as well as the kids’ tent, I was able to build a 5 x 4 bedroom with a door and a window. I bought two more Gordian cots so we could all sleep indoors, and installed a kid-friendly nightlight in the bedroom, along with another basic light fixture in the bathroom. That still left us with $1,075 in cash, which I was saving toward building a kitchen.
I was pretty pleased with myself. To celebrate, I practiced singing under the stars while the kids got ready for bed.
By the time it was my turn in the bathroom, the toilet was filthy. I had to scrub it clean before using it.
As I walked past the twins sleeping soundly in their beds, I smiled to myself. We’re finally sleeping under the same roof. I sighed. Today was a good day. I fell right to sleep when my head hit the pillow.
Author’s Note:
We had a close call this morning! Emma was burning up from sleeping in the sun in her ‘normal’ PJ’s and was +99 uncomfortable. When my game started up, it jumped to maximum speed because everyone was asleep. I had only seconds to pause and get Emma into hot-weather-friendly clothing before she died from heat exposure. After all she’s done for her siblings, that would’ve been an awful ending to their story. Phew! As Emma would say — dodged a bullet! 🙂
Lastly, let’s take another peek at their skill levels:
Emma:
Emma gained nearly two full levels in painting and sang just enough to get her to level two singing skill. Now she’ll be able to sing something other than just country music.
Kylie:
Kylie increased her mental skills by two full levels from the time she spent fishing. She’s well on her way to maxing out that skill.
Cole:
Since he didn’t spend quite as much time fishing as his sister did, Cole gained only one full level of mental skill. That’s still pretty impressive at his age.
Lily Parker's Sims Challenges 