Real Housewifes of Phoenix?

I've admitted it before and will admit it again that I am a reality TV junkie. It doesn't even have to be good reality TV! But one of my favorites is the Real Housewife series on Bravo. Luckily, the New Jersey branch is back! Did you watch the premier? Brenna and I finally got to watch it last night. OMG! These people are crazy to say the least, but I can really relate to a lot of what is going on.

Hands down, the Manzo family is my favorite. Don't you just want to be their friend so you can join them for a Sunday family dinner? I totally related to Caroline as the boys announced they were moving out too. She put up a brave front for about 15 seconds and then the tears came. I cried for her since I know exactly how she feels.

Poor Jacqueline. She just wants to help her daughter grow up but I think she is going to have to let Ashley fail and make a few mistakes before that kid learns any lessons. You can't hand a kid everything on a silver platter her whole life and then expect her to make good choices. Ashley comes across as a spoiled little brat who expects her parents to provide her with an apartment in the city just so she can make it to work on time? Doubt that would make much of a difference in the long run. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

The real drama came with the addition of the newest housewife, Melissa and her cousin, Kathy. Both are related to Teresa, who I have always been a fan of. I am going to withhold judement on Melissa for now, but initial impressions aren't too good. I am sure there is no way we will ever get the full story, but it just seems wierd to me that Teresa's brother did what he did at his son's christening party. It's one thing to treat your sister bad, but then to go off on your parents too? There must be a reason the parents seem to be taking Teresa's side in this.

Teresa and Joe have had their problems and I'm not saying their spending habits were right by any stretch of the imagination. But a lot of people have been hurt in this economy. What strikes me is that both of them are doing whatever they can to maintain their family. I give props to Joe for making pizza's to help support his family and for Teresa doing her books.

What really bothers me about this show is how much it reminds me of my own family right now. My brother and I haven't spoken since our fight the first part of December. And I'm fine with that although I know it bothers my Mom. Luckily, she is keeping her nose out of it and not taking sides.

It breaks my heart to see what is happening to my brother's kids though. I can lump them in there with Jacqueline's daughter, Ashley. They have had everything handed to them on a silver platter and now that it's time to grow up, they have no clue how real life works. Just like Teresa, we went to my niece's graduation party to support her. My brother and I did not speak one word to each other, but I was at least there for Mikayla.

What is sad is that Mikayla graduated from ASU with a worthless biology degree. She wants to go to medical school and expects daddy to pay for it and he refuses. She thinks she is too good to get student loans so she has decided to take a year off and keep working at Victoria's Secret. Hope that works out for her.

My youngest nephew, Tate, just got another ticket but this time it's a criminal one since he was going so fast. The kid is 17 and thinks he is God's gift to the baseball world as he has scholarship offers from numerous universities. He's been in trouble before and one time we know it was for drugs. Last fall he blew the engine on his truck because he wasn't responsible enough to get oil changed and ran it dry. He did have to go a few months without a car, but it really didn't matter because the family all worked around his ball schedule to make sure he wasn't inconvenienced and then ended up buying him a new car anyway. How is this teaching this kid anything?

I do think Karma plays a big part in life and I feel like my brother is getting what he deserves, even thought that sounds pretty harsh. In the last 6 months his life has really gone down the toilet but I just don't think you can treat people the way he does and not have it come back to bite you in the butt. As an outsider looking in, all I can say is that he brought a lot of his family issues on himself by not teaching his kids the value of a dollar and right from wrong. It's just too bad that they will pay a price too.