Coldly Exercising

I've thrown myself into my fitness regiman...it is one of the few things that I do to keep my mind off Ajani and the lack of his prescence...I hate it. Thankfully, I will see our son, Ray, soon as he and his girlfriend are coming for the memorial service. Roy could not make it due to the recent birth of his son...it will be nice to have most of my family in the same room again.

Goodbye my love

My lover is like the morning fog, only here for a moment and then in the dawning of a new age, he is gone. My husband of many many simdays is dead...thankfully we enjoyed our anniversary party, but I resent him for leaving me here without him. Here alone with such a cold empty bed. WHY!!!!

A Small Party

I am glad that I agreed to host a small anniversary party for Ajani and I. Time is so short and I think I did not realize how old we had gotten. Our hair is now silver and our wrinkles deeper, but our love is stronger and our family ties are like steel. Aging does have it's benefits.

A Grandmother

Yea, I'm a grandmother, but still a fit and cute granny. I can keep up with the twins better than the kids. I think it's my special protien shakes, I tried to share one with Rebecca, but she said it smelled horrible. What does she know! Wheat grass and rye seed are wonderful antioxidants. Doesn't she know?

A Surprise Delivery

I am a grandmother and not to soon either! When Rebecca started screaming about pain and cramping in her belly, I knew that the time had arrived. Thankfully simhours later, I was the proud grandmother of twins, a boy and a girl. Rebecca is content and wants no more children, but of course the rest of the family wants more. I wonder how my sons are doing? There was a tragedy where Roy lives, but I haven't heard word about him...only that they are still searching for him. I hope he is alright. Ray...well, I hope Ray doesn't cause any trouble in Simmington Hills.

Working on Building Inventory

I would like to take another vacation, but in order to do so, Ajani and I must build up the inventory for the shop since Rebecca isn't quite as skilled at building toys or robots. She is trying to learn, but her talents lie in the administration of the business. It would be better for her to hire a crafter, perhaps even buy the toys from the crafter.

I was browsing the Farmer's Market and saw some wonderful flowers and it got me thinking. With the talk of the new apprenticeship guild, perhaps we should establish a scholarship for one student to attend as long as thier guild is toy design. Then they could help around the store and the next generation of toy crafters would be established. I'll put the idea to Ajani and Rebecca. It would cost at least $1500 (half the tuition/room/board) to make it appealing to students, but I think we could cover the entire cost of the education ($3000) to ensure quality products in the future.

Growing Family

Rebecca is married and our sons are settling into thier new hoods. Things are going nicely I must say and my new son-in-law is very sweet. I adore him. I told him that he should consider running for the Community Director position in the upcoming elections. He has a few simdays to think about it before he needs to declare his candidancy, but he would be the perfect fit.

Almost

Rebecca is almost ready to take over the shop, I have to teach her some more skills, but then she can take over ownership and I will step back into more crafting.

Right now she sells to customers and is making management decisions, while Ajani mans the register and creates the robots and I still create the toys. I think she will do well.

Homemakers Club

I am in charge of this simweek's Homemakers Club Meeting. We're going to meet at CupaJava for some espresso and maybe a cake...or two and discuss how we can bring Exercise in the Home. I will publish the minutes from the meeting.

I'm an elder and life is slowing down. I will not run for re-election, I wonder who will take my spot on the Hood Council.

Grooming

Going through our hold vacation photos. The Zen garden was so great, I loved to groom it-o, yes, the vacation was lovely, we stayed in our underwear for most fo the trip-hihi! I felt so alive. We had a small party when we returned to celebrate our golden anniversary! Rebecca was able to come from school and we told her all about the trip!

Hood Council Note: Farming Rights

There's been a lot of discussion about farming rights and food produce for the hood, so I decided to do a formal report.

Number of households: 13 (not including house on BAP Campus-thier food source comes from national sources)

Current Number of Residential lots: 15

Number of ground plots needed to feed each lot: 5

Total number of ground plots needed: 75

Only one family has farm rights. These farm rights include:

• Must develop/harvest a minimum of 22 ground plots, 3 fruit trees or any combination of the two to equal 25 (ie 20 ground plots/5 fruit trees; 10 ground plots, 15 fruit trees, etc).
  
• Must develop at least one plot of each food: Tomatoes , Strawberries , Cucumbers , Pole Beans, Peppers , Eggplant.
  
• Must have at least two fruit trees variety: Apple, Lemon, Orange
  
• May reside on a 3x3 to a 4x3 lot
  
• $300 incentive each season

Mendenhall Farm: 30 plots (5 plots of each variety) + 6 fruit trees (2 trees of each variety) + 3 bee hives that each produce 4 jars of honey simdaily (12 jars (6 servings each (72 meals total)) simdaily)+ small pond with healthy fish population.

There are no grocery stores and Smokey Jane's reduced it's selection of fine wines and cheeses that can be purchased-thus families pay an additional $50 delivery fee for processed food. This is an incentive for families to buy fresh local produce from the Farmer's Market. As long as prices are kept reasonable, the hood council will be able to support the farm and local produce.

Hood Council Note: Musik Faire

The Musik Festival has been approved. It will be the last day of summer, a nice event for the teens, at The Foundry. It will be in the evening of the Summer Festival and we're importing special snack kiosks for the event, as well as making sure there is ample room and restrooms.


Performers
Sam Jones, Mayfair Plaza: pending
Selena Farrell, Mayfair Plaza: pending
Sergio Gitano, Harper's Cove: confirmed
The Fighters, Palatial Heights: confirmed

Special Guests
Chad Vanderburg, MC: confirmed


There will be a re-release of Alisa Crawston's CDs and concert tees; and the sales of the other performers CDs and tees. Tickets will be on sale for $50 and VIP tickets will be on sale for ~$150 and will feature access to the VIP lounge, meet and greet with performers and a special souvenior backstage pass. The profits will go towards the purchase of new computers for the school.

Hood Council Note: New Tasks?

With the new deal, we're supposed to discuss how to manage the new task of overseeing the increased travel and vacation destinations. Since I'm in charge of culture, it falls to me :(

Thankfully there isn't much. So here's an update to my plan:

Secure family values, uphold rights for children and elders

• Encourage families to create wills by hosting a free class at The Centre, free donuts will bring a bigger crowd


• Research health insurance policies for residents


• Establish a play group system for children to meet thier neighbors

Ensure a family friendly and healthy community for current & future generations.

• Encourage residents to compost instead of trash (see report in paper)


• Install more lights and benches at the parks


• Obtain address signs for homes

Ensure adequate culture, local food produce, restaurants and bars, & social meeting places.

• Look into selling travel certificates


• Look into hosting charter tours


• Host a child friendly event: Children's Festival with free lemonade and sweets and local entertainment and games and prizes. Location: Celebration Park or Modern Sculpture Park, cost for residents: free


• Host a teen-friendly event.Musik Festival with concerts from local bands and maybe some international acts (contact Sergio Gitano of Harper's Cove, post notice on Career & Fame Board). Location: The Foundry


• Add a trend section in the local paper. Will review resturaunts, bars, etc. Also help residents stay abreast of the local trends.


• Allow local farmer's to reside on larger lots, thus produce more food.


• Build a public pool and gym for residents to enjoy in the summer time

Ensure a quality education system for residents

• Build a local school for the children of Apple Valley.


• Host graduation ceremonies for graduates of the school and the university


• Encourage more extracurricular activities for teens and children-start with debate team, chess club, and simscouting program Postponed until more information about Spring 2008 Deal is revealed.
  

Reviews

Did a review for the Apple Valley News of Tati's. I won't say too much since it will be in my article, but I can talk about the reviews/trend section.



Each paper will have the section and we'll either have a review of a business (done by various sims so businesses won't start trying to be nice to one particular viewer). The businesses can earn ratings of up to five apples (the worst rating is the "Rotten Apple" the best is the "Golden Apple"). Ka'obi wants to award a Golden Apple to a business each simweek and the reviews will help her with the task. The other part of the reviews/trends is that we'll have residents tell us what's hot and what's not...we haven't fully decided about this part yet since STAR has a similar section and Clark doesn't want to repeat.

Hood Council Note: Community Director Report

Update on my progress this term:

Secure family values, uphold rights for children and elders

• Encourage families to create wills by hosting a free class at The Centre, free donuts will bring a bigger crowd



• Research health insurance policies for residents



• Establish a play group system for children to meet thier neighbors

Ensure a family friendly and healthy community for current & future generations.

• Encourage residents to compost instead of trash



• Install more lights and benches at the parks



• Obtain address signs for homes

Ensure adequate culture, local food produce, restaurants and bars, & social meeting places.

• Host a child friendly event: Children's Festival with free lemonade and sweets and local entertainment and games and prizes. Location: Celebration Park or Modern Sculpture Park, cost for residents: free



• Host a teen-friendly event. (What's cool now?): Musik Festival with concerts from local bands (contact Selita Grey) and maybe some international acts (contact Sergio Gitano of Harper's Cove, post notice on Career & Fame Board). Location: The Foundry



• Add a trend section in the local paper. Will review resturaunts, bars, etc. Also help residents stay abreast of the local trends.



• Allow local farmer's to reside on larger lots, thus produce more food.



• Build a public pool and gym for residents to enjoy in the summer time

Ensure a quality education system for residents

• Build a local school for the children of Apple Valley.



• Host graduation ceremonies for graduates of the school and the university



• Encourage more extracurricular activities for teens and children-start with debate team, chess club, and simscouting program

Exercise in the Family

I decided to get the family involved in some exercise routines. Even little Roy joined us in jumping jacks and streches. I think that the family that exercises together will have a healthy life together.

I will look into promoting a healthier lifestyle in the hood, so many teens and children are overweight and eat junk food all day. Chips and cookies. No, especially with so much fresh food, children should snack on juice, honey wheat cakes and fresh salads.

Trial of the Century

I stopped by Celebration Park and bumped into Elda-the wife of Clark who broke the story that the Brad Dawson death might be murder. There are rumors that an arrest will happen soon and once the arrest happens, there will be a trial naturally. Thank goodness the construction is finished with the courthouse at The Centre. I hope there won't be a lot of press at the trial...I guess it depends on which sim they arrest.

Hood Council Note: Phase One School Curriculm Proposal

Curriculm
Classes will be held simMonday-simFriday, 9am-3pm.
Teens: Level 3, simyears 14-18 (pupil count 4)
Teens: Level 4, simyears 18-22 (pupil count 0)
*Teens: Level 5, simyears 23-28 (pupil count 0)
9am-11pm: Morning Period
11am-1pm: Lunch/Break
1pm-3pm: Afternoon Period


Level 3 Class Schedule (AM/PM)
simMonday:Golf Clinic III/Science III
simTuesday: Art III/Shop Class III
simWednesday: Science III/Physical Education III
simThursday: Golf Clinic III /Shop Class III
simFriday: Art III/Physical Education III


Level 4 Class Schedule (AM/PM)
simMonday: Science VI/History IV
simTuesday: Physical Education VI /English VI
simWednesday: Home Ecomonics VI/Science VI
simThursday: English VI/Physical Education VI
simFriday: History IV/Home Ecomonics VI

*Level 4 Class Schedule
Optional for teens opting not to attend university.
Encourage teens will join a trainee program with a local business.
Teens can also take classes of thier choice.

Class Descriptions
-Science III (cleaning): students will learn how to find lurking bacteria
-Shop Class III (mechanical): students will learn how to craft small electronics
-Physical Education III (body): students will learn healthy habits through kick boxing
-Art III (creativity): students will learn the basics of cubism
-Golf Clinic III (charisma): students will learn how to play the game of golf
-Science VI (logic): students will study microbiology
-Home Ecomonics VI (cooking): students will study spaghetti techniques
-Physical Education VI (body): students will learn healthy habits through yoga
-English VI (charisma): students will learn how to effectively give speeches
-History IV (creativity): students will learn how to write historical research papers'

Extracurriculars (TBD): chess club, debate team, sports team, theater, yearbook, etc

Hood Council Note: Proposal for School: Phase One

Purpose
There is a need for the hood council to build a local school instead of bussing off the children and teens to other public schools where parents and the council can not monitor thier curriculm and education closely. This effort would take a considerable investment, but it would provide more jobs for residents and give us more control over the curriculm and education our children recieve.


State of the Hood's Education System
Currently the hood counts 9 teens and 10 children that are bussed off to nearby schools. It would take about two simdays to establish the Apple Valley school so that it can open on simMonday (if construction starts this simSaturday). By this time the pupil count would be 16 pupils. If we look at the number of students currently enrolled in private school: 5 teens and 2 children, that would ease the load of pupils for the school. Then that would leave 12 students to start the school.


Phase One
It will be best to slowly intergrate the students into the school and start with high school students and then add elementary students in Phase Two. With the increased requirements for university, the high school students are in danger of not being prepared for thier future. That would give the school 4 students to start with, also would only require 1 teacher. With this in mind:


Potential Jobs
1 Secondary School Teacher
-suggest teacher moves into an apartment on school grounds. If not possible, then at least the caretaker must move into the school.

1 Principal
-suggest that the Community Director holds this position to oversee the curriculm, will not increase duties of the CD too much, also will not cost the hood extra money to pay the principal.

1 Part-Time Cafeteria Worker or Delivered Pre-cooked Meals
-suggest delivered meals to save on cost. Can try to work a contract with Tati's

1 Part-Time Caretaker
-suggest either teacher does this afterschool or hire a worker to come in during afterschool hours to clean. Local maid service will be disruptive to classroom environment.

Classes/Grade Levels
Classes will be held simMonday-simFriday, 9am-3pm.
Will submit a more detailed curriculm proposal if the school proposal is approved.
Teens: Level 3, simyears 14-18 (pupil count 4)
Teens: Level 4, simyears 18-22 (pupil count 0)

Curriculm
Nationally Approved Curriculm/Subjects: use basic gradebooks
Extracurriculars: chess club, debate team, sports team, theater, yearbook, etc
Skill Building Classes: art, physical education, home ec, music class, shop class, etc


Investment
School Building
-believe this will be about $50,000 for the initial construction. Then another $30,000 for furnishing the school with neccessary equiptment.

Salary for Teacher
-can be a flat salary (suggest $1000/simweek) subsidized by the fact the teacher lives on campus and has room and board

Maintanience of School Building
-cleaning, repair work, landscaping, school supplies


Total Initial Investment=$90,000


We can qualify for the New School Education Grant ($35,000) and the Small School Iniative Grant ($40,000) which would require the hood to provide $15,000 towards the cost of the school, which is well within the budget.

Hood Council Note:My Plans for the Term

My plans for the term as Community Director:


Secure family values, uphold rights for children and elders

• Encourage families to create wills by hosting a free class at The Centre, free donuts will bring a bigger crowd
• Research health insurance policies for residents
• Establish a play group system for children to meet thier neighbors

Ensure a family friendly and healthy community for current & future generations.

• Encourage residents to compost instead of trash
• Install more lights and benches at the parks
• Obtain address signs for homes

Ensure adequate culture, local food produce, restaurants and bars, & social meeting places.

• Host a child friendly event: Children's Festival with free lemonade and sweets and local entertainment and games and prizes. Location: Celebration Park or Modern Sculpture Park, cost for residents: free
• Host a teen-friendly event. (What's cool now?): Musik Festival with concerts from local bands (contact Selita Grey) and maybe some international acts (contact Sergio Gitano of Harper's Cove, post notice on Career & Fame Board). Location: The Foundry
• Add a trend section in the local paper. Will review resturaunts, bars, etc. Also help residents stay abreast of the local trends.
• Allow local farmer's to reside on larger lots, thus produce more food.
• Build a public pool and gym for residents to enjoy in the summer time

Ensure a quality education system for residents

• Build a local school for the children of Apple Valley.
• Host graduation ceremonies for graduates of the school and the university
• Encourage more extracurricular activities for teens and children-start with debate team, chess club, and simscouting program