A Real Housewife

I watch reality tv.  There you go.  I’ve put it out there.  Feel free to disown me as a friend or bump me up a notch higher on the pedestal because of it, but it’s not something I hide.

I especially love to hate to watch “the Real Housewives of Orange County.”  Something about their complete disregard for money and the fact that they live their lives SO incredibly different from the way Brian and I live ours draws me back to it every week like a bad train wreck.  (I’m eventually drawn back again for the mini-marathons, but we’ll need to save that for another post, because that would be more of a rant on Bravo than on RHOC.  Another day, my dears, another day.)

Allow me set the stage for you as I comment on the most recent episode to curdle my milk.  The six housewives are on a girls’ trip to San Francisco.   Over indulgence at it’s best.

Housewife A took a bite of Housewife T’s entrée and proceeded to spit it into her napkin.  This was followed by Housewife V dry heaving [at the table] because she was sitting next to her and was so grossed out.  AT. A. FIVE. STAR. RESTAURANT.

Housewife L told the rest of the women about how her family was just served an eviction notice because her husband apparently hadn’t been paying the mortgage.  (Yes, I wondered why she still made the luxury trip to San Fran, just like you.)

Housewife G began sobbing in the bar after another Housewife V’s daughter began talking about how she might have cancer.  I do understand why she was upset.   Housewife G’s fiancé just passed away from cancer within the last year.  To clarify, she was upset about her last fiancé who died within the last year, not the current fiancé to whom she became engaged within the last year.  Regardless of her reasons for being upset, I don’t necessarily think it was very appropriate right there. 

Actually, I feel quite confident that had Miss Manners been there, she would have told Housewife G:1) to move her little breakdown to a more private location, and 2) her sobs were probably not overly comforting to the poor girl in her twenties who was discussing the fact that she may have cancer. 

Thankfully I’m not Miss Manners, so I have a little more leeway in what I could have said.  I believe that if I was there, tt would have gone a little something like this:“I know you’re upset G, but the waterworks are not HELPING the situation.  Take yourself to the bathroom, get a grip, then you can come back with us.  The poor kid is already on the verge of a breakdown because she might have cancer she DOES NOT need you to remind her that she might DIE and it can be a slow and painfully agonizing death.”

Okay, maybe that’s a little more harsh than what I would have said, but hey, it’s good reading.  Regardless of what I actually would have said, I really would have had her move it to another place.  I felt bad that Housewife V’s daughter (potential cancer girl) was actually having to console Housewife G.  Backwards, much?

            To make everything all better, the Housewives decided to go shopping.  Shopping is what life is all about, right?   At the end of the shopping scene, all of the Housewives are paying for their loot and this gem of a comment comes out:

“Shopping is a just sport.  This is my sport; I’m a sport shopper.”

And now you’re caught up to what got me all fired up.  That comment right there, combined with the visual of Housewife L moseying up to the register to pay for the $1185.00 leather jacket she was buying.  No, the decimal point is not in the wrong place and yes, Housewife L is the one who just got evicted from her house.  Wow.  Are my priorities really that far off base? 

And with that, I say to the “Real” Housewives of Orange County…

            Thank you.  Thank you for filling up my meter with one more week’s worth of love for my home filled with Pulte beige (not designer) walls, my used minivan, my excitement at the prospect of getting to go out for dinner at $1 taco night, the bonding I get to do with my princess as she uses the potty (rather than the ‘nanny’ getting to bond with her)  and my husband who actually pays the bills when he says he does.  Thank you for reminding me who a REAL housewife really is.  I tend to forget to “Focus on the journey, not the destination.  Joy is found not in finishing an activity, but in doing it.”  It’s about letting the house be messy once in a while so I can play with the Princess.  It’s about not spending the money and keeping to the budget, about really ‘living like no one else, so that later we can LIVE like no one else.’   It’s about being there for your family and recognizing that your family isn’t necessarily the people with your DNA, it’s the people who are there for you and who love you when you need them. 

I don’t judge you (okay, I do judge you, Housewife L  a little bit for the shopping thing, but I also realize that you’re probably just a little misguided with your emotions and need a good therapist to help you figure it all out…), but I just know that I want to live differently than you. 

Our little life here in Cumming is perfect just the way it is and I wouldn’t trade it for yours in a heartbeat.  Thank you for helping me remember that.