I love the idea for half-time and also 2xtime - some days if I am sick or at home doing nothing for some reason I could play all day and let my computer go at 2X. The other ideas above are all great! What about painting the house? I know you can do that with mods, but it could be something you save for inside the game and have the people do. You could also have them extend the deck, plant flowers, etc - all the home improvements that we ourselves make to our own homes. (OK I am biased towards planting flowers!)