I noticed this also.  It seems as though the weather is much worse. I have almost constant hail on Twikki. 

I have had another interesting "feature."  Apparently, once you book a  honeymoon, you get it with every marriage.  After the traumatic death of his first wife, my sim remarried and immediately went off on the same Twikki honeymoon to the same hotel as he had with his first wife (I purposely hadn't booked one since the child was about to grow up the next night and I figured I would just take a vacation then).  Next thing you know he'll be trying to get his new bride to wear his dead wife's clothing.

I've had less lag since redirecting the game to bypass the launcher, so thanks for that tip.

My sim kids had a snow-day, but I was able to have a parent drive them to school anyway because they were young and I didn't want to hire a nanny.  They came home on the school bus as usual. 

To be honest, many private schools do have more snow-days and holidays than public schools; I used to get almost a month for Christmas and my overall schedule was more like university.  Public schools are under more pressure to have the mandated number of school days per year (at least 180) and there is always legislation trying to make the school years longer or do away with Summer vacation.

Music careers generally require degrees in music (for the game I would say Philosophy is closest for aesthetics or history for music appreciation).  Even many "rock stars" have degrees (for example, check out Berklee and its alumni list) unless they lucked out and/or knew the right people.  Classical musicians/ orchestra, recording musicians, and private teachers are the most prevalent occupations in my opinion.  My oldest daughter is a professional musician.  With that said, unlike education or law, it is possible to advance without the paper (outside of teaching).  Journalism is the same way; you can work your way up in the career ladder without a degree, but not easily.

You can have any major in college and go to law school; it makes no difference whatsoever.  English is a great choice because you will gain valuable skills in writing and speech.  Philosophy is also decent for a background in ethics.  However, as long as you get the required gpa and a good score on your LSAT, it makes no difference.  Law, medicine and public education are the three things (unless anyone can think of another) that you will always need a specialized degree for.

Gaming career is a tough one because although there are possibilities without a degree, the market is so glutted with computer/ programming degrees and certifications that it is tough to get a job without one.  The gaming industry hires from many segments and frequently seeks English and art majors as well as computer majors.  This is another career that I think has a silly progression when they could have chosen much better titles that make more sense - I mean "guild leader" and Noob," as job titles. 

Adventurer, well are you talking archaeologist?  Then you would need a degree.  I don't know what they were thinking with this when there are so many common occupations that people would like to have added officially to game.  I see it as either archaeologist or CIA operative... either way, I can see how a degree *could* apply.  I just think it has a silly progression.

I love these templates and have been checking up on this thread for a while now waiting for them to be done.  You really have done a great job.  All the other replacement packs are either too pretty or too much like the Maxis.

haha I can always tell when my sons (twins, and I didn't even eat cookies much when I was pregnant  ) have been playing my game because a Sim will show up named "xcfjkbfjbfjdsbjs dsdd" who lives in a lot filled with bunny heads...

I never knew about the reindeer, but plan to go test it out tonight.  *Imagines a white ghost with a blinking red nose* 

I LOVE the idea of a contageous disease!  It would really help thin out my older neighborhoods and add a random element to the deaths.  I've had sims die of disease but I had to work very hard to keep them tired and poorly fed to do it.

Thank you all for the suggestions.  I think Merola's painting is the closest to what I'm looking for since I actually do want them to eat, just not start plumping like a bunch of ballpark franks at every party.

In the meantime, if anyone hears of a zero calorie cake (heck Sims or real life ) let me know!

Thanks again!
Kelly

The flashing colors sound like the NVidia problem.  If some beards (especially the santa) blink also then I can guarantee it.  It is risky to roll back a video driver, so I would get expert advice if you decide to try it (you have to get a program like Driver Cleaner Pro).  I chickened out before trying to fix mine so I keep hoping a newer driver will come out to fix the problem.

Kelly

Greetings, I am new and this is my first post.  I have to say that I've been enjoying reading the posts on this site since I found it last night.

I've been searching hack sites looking for cake (wedding and birthday) that does not cause Sims to lose their current level of fitness.  I like to have fairly realistic parties and weddings in my game and since cake traditionally comes after dinner... My brides and grooms tend to plump up pretty fast at the wedding and some kids snatch a piece and run at birthdays before I can stop them.  I would like to concentrate on more than just keeping full sims out of the cake during celebrations.  The "become less fit" animation also ruins video footage.

If cake isn't an option, is there a way to instantly drop hunger for everyone on the lot just enough to allow for a low satisfaction meal?  I'm sure I could find the latter somewhere, but I would like to know all of your responses (i.e. recommend a particular hack) before I load anything since you all seem to know what you are doing with hacks and I trust your opinions.  I have all expansions.

This is especially a pain since the NL fat and fit attraction modifiers.  Speaking of which, seems silly that there isn't an "average" weight preference?
Thanks in advance!
Kelly

My biggest Simnoyance:  garden fences... who can't step over a 1/2 foot high fence?