Irritable

Yes, it actually is possible for some people to hide bipolar disorder. It's not the kind of illness that shows up in a blood test, and while there are times of mania and times of deep depression, there are also times of what appear to be stability. My mother had bipolar disorder, it was untreated her entire life aside from the self-medicating she did with alcohol every evening which led to exactly what Harris described - every day when you got home you didn't know what version of her would be waiting for you, and there was a feeling of dread every time you walked in the door. It was our big family secret, no one would talk about it and it was understood that no one outside of the family was to know. She held down a full time job, no one she worked with had any idea she was sick in that way. Her friends didn't know. My friends didn't know, even the VERY few that I trusted enough to bring to my house - I kept my inner circle tight because I was ashamed, and didn't want anyone to see what was really going down at home, but my mother only let the façade slip in front of my closest friend once in over 10 years. She convinced a police officer who saw her punching me in the face and pulled our car over that I deserved it, and he never even walked over to check on me or ask for my side. I was 7 years old at the time (the 1970's were a whole different world when it came to the protection of abused children). She knew how to manipulate and hide her mental issue, but she let it fly full strength in the privacy of our home. It disgusted me that she could contain herself when she wanted to, and that she treated strangers with kindness that she didn't give to her own child. I'm not saying Lee was abusive to Savannah, I'm just saying that when someone with bipolar disorder wants to hide it, sometimes they can, especially if they are not in the middle of a full blown episode (my mother called in sick a lot, or had me do it for her, when she was too far out of her mind to go to work). And if Lee's psychiatric evaluations were done during times that she was "stable", then it's not like they would be able to figure it out based on interviews - if they asked her about mood swings, extreme emotional highs and lows, etc., she would just lie and say that never happened, that she was always mellow and only got upset when it was justified. But considering how difficult it is in the U.S. for a father to be granted full custody, that tells me that the people who claim there was zero evidence that what he said about her instability was true, the judge's decision says otherwise. Courts will always try as hard as possible to keep the child with the mother, so any time I hear a father was granted custody, that tells me the mother was seriously messed up in some way. The people who support Lee say that there was no sign whatsoever that she was mentally ill, but that's basically heresay for the viewers in this case, and there was clearly much more to her problems than what we were shown. It pisses me off that Savannah/Samantha couldn't be bothered to even keep in touch with her dad through email. She came across like a reasonable person, admitted that her time with him had been pleasant and comfortable, so it doesn't make sense to me that she could so easily just wash her hands of him and go back to school without at least being in contact a little. How terribly sad. I never had doubts about Harris' motivations, but even if I did, the fact that he still has her room perfectly preserved and never moved from the house in case she came back was proof to me that his daughter was always the goal, not revenge. I'm glad the girl had a good life, but she seems to be a pretty cold adult for someone whose childhood was so loving and nurturing. I agree about there being a Stockholm Syndrome element here, or some kind of brainwashing done by her mother.

Yeah, I didn't get all their confusion about if, how and why Joe chose Juelia - seemed pretty obvious that the reason he asked if she would go on the date was because he said, "Does anyone want to go on this date?" and she said, "I do!". I didn't have much of an opinion about Joe on Kaitlyn's season, except that it was weird the way he desperately blurted out a super fake I LOVE YOU BABE just seconds before she dumped him, even though her body language was screaming that she had pulled him aside only to send him home. I felt like maybe HE was the one who wasn't too bright, and certainly wasn't able to read a room, but any sympathy I may have had for him after that truly embarrassing scene is now dead and buried. What an egotistical ass he is, and with no reason to be that I can see. Someone earlier said he looked like he'd been kicked in the face by a horse, and that's the perfect description for this guy. Juelia doesn't seem as dim as he was making her out to be, and certainly she is smarter than the two sisters put together. She wanted to believe he did some research on her, because she wanted there to be a good reason for her to be there, and I can understand that. She deserves so much better than this hick. I hope Samantha is repulsed by him. I wasn't sure if Joshua was lying to Tenley about only doing "Molly" once, because when he said you can get a coconut drink full of it in L.A., I don't think he specifically said he drank one of them. So technically it may have been true that he only did it once, but the way he was bragging about it to the group vs. telling Tenley he's not at all interested in the party lifestyle certainly showed there is a gap somewhere. Maybe all of his hard partying experience happened because of the ATFR show - I could see a group of the guys going out to a bar afterward, putting together an impromptu Vegas trip the next day, and those might encompass the entirety of his drug experiences. Was he the one with the hula dancer tattoo on his leg? It looked so fake, I was hoping it was a temporary tattoo he put on just for the show, but since they are in Mexico and not Hawaii, I guess it's the real thing. Oh wait...he's the one who thinks Tokyo is in China, so maybe he would get a Hawaiian dancer tattoo for a trip to Mexico, after all. For some reason I thought I hadn't liked Kirk during his previous appearances on the franchise, but maybe I have him mixed up with someone else. I do recall there was another guy who looked so much like him that I honestly didn't know which was which, so possibly it was the other one who bugged me. His comment about Mikey's wedding vision board was great. I see no physical chemistry between him and Carly, but I like how comfortable they are together.

I wish the season-ender obligatory party to get all the housewives in one place could have been an after-show party for Sonja, instead of a party Ramona is throwing for herself, to celebrate herself. I had to laugh when Ramona tried so hard to portray Mario as asking her to please join him in fully retreating from life, and just sitting around at home alone together, letting the clock run out. She is so utterly shit-filled!

This is why I can't quit Bethenny. Her start this season was a little shaky, but I knew all I had to do was wait, and sure enough the last few weeks she has been the Bethenny I have come to love. I wish I could hire her to dress down a couple of people in my life, because I don't have the gift of Oh, SNAP! confrontation that she does. Yeah, none of those shots of Sonja modeling have me convinced, either. That Chanel pic is so weird for several reasons - the pose is awful and low-rent, for one. It wouldn't have gotten her through to the next round on America's Next Top Model. When I was a teenager, there was a shop at the mall I frequented, and the manager asked me and a few other girls if we would like to stand as live mannequins in the storefront on weekends in exchange for a nice discount on purchases, and being able to take home the clothes we modeled. When I think of Sonja's modeling past, I think of it being on par with mine, which is to say, there is no modeling past there. Wearing clothes and / or hiring someone to take your picture does not a model make...at least not the kind of model Sonja is trying to convince people that she once was. I'm a little sad that next week is the finale because I've really enjoyed this season, in spite of how much Ramona makes my stomach hurt.

I thought the redheaded woman who was on the show last night wit Billy Eichner was horrible. At first, when I realized she's supposed to be funny, or a comedian, I thought her dress must have been a joke - like she was making fun of some of the over the top outfits other women have worn on their appearances. But then she ended up being so mean and terrible, and I think the dress suited her. Whatever it was she said about how Brooks needs to be put out of his misery was super gross, no matter what her opinion is of him. And thinking it was funny to say Shannon is the saddest housewife in the franchise? How is that amusing? Clearly she IS one of the saddest, that is her story right now and she's allowing her sadness to be shown because it's real, and she takes being on a reality show seriously (bless her heart). Not seeing how it's in any way witty to point it out. Hope that's her last appearance, but if she continues to give Andy "real" "acting" gigs, then I fear she will become a regular.

I didn't see it coming that Ashley's sister would break down and start crying on Day 1. I thought she was going to be the anti-Ashley, but apparently the only difference between them is that one is virgin and the other is not. I thought I had read that the accommodations were supposed to be nicer this time than last season, but so far it doesn't look any better except maybe the beach area is bigger and nicer. The buildings all seem to be open-air, and if crabs can get in that easily then so can bugs. Also, they don't have A/C in the sleeping quarters? NO THANKS. Waking up sweaty like Ashley did is the exact opposite of what I consider paradise. So was the date of riding around in dirt. And swimming in a muddy looking river at night looked pretty much like a nope for me, too.

I wish Marcus and Lacey a lifetime of happiness and pretty babies, but I had to FF past their wedding because that's not the kind of paradise I'm looking for on this show. I'm here for Mikey T. announcing immediately that he's an alpha male who could get the other guys bodies "ripped" in a month, and then making the PFFFFFT! YEAH RIGHT face. I'm here for Ashley I. sitting next to Jared like a mute for an hour trying to come up with something to say that wasn't dumb, and finally landing on, "Okay, so you know how last year my thing was that I'm a princess? Well, I'm not like Cinderella, I'm like Jasmine, and I'm even wearing a Jasmine bikini", and then feeling pretty satisfied that she "solidified" things with Jared during that "conversation". Yes, Ashley, way to lock that shit down, he's yours for the taking now! I'm here for people only noticing that Ashley S. was missing when the ambulance came to take her, and then Dan (who???) running up to go with her to the hospital, wearing no shirt and possibly no shoes. How nice, and predictable, of Mikey to tell Kirk that everyone is saying he's already wifed-up, that he and Carly are the first "big couple", they are both officially off the available pile now, and then basically saying Kirk is in a tough spot because of all the other options. Why is Mikey working so hard to make Kirk want to run away from Carly? He doesn't seem to want her for himself. I guess as an alpha male, it's his job to make every other guy question their own hookup decisions. The guy who claims to have "had" sisters at the same time, and then after finding out Ashley I. is a virgin says he's also had a few of those? Yeah, he can go now. The farther the better. I would also be more like Ashley S. in stopping to notice, enjoy and interact with the wildlife. Animals are much better than people most of the time, especially when compared to, say, JJ. I was distracted by Jade's breasts. I can't remember if they were fake on Chris' season, but one of them juts off to the side in a way that doesn't match with the other one and it draws my eyes down sort of like Tori Spelling's weird cleavage. At first I thought maybe it was being pulled strangely by her bathing suit top, but it was the same in her date dress, so I guess she just had a bad installation. I wasn't sure if Tanner's ramblings at dinner were working on her, and then she went in for the kiss, so apparently he said something right. I don't mind them as a couple, even though they are only about 2 millimeters less boring for me than Lacey and Marcus. If they end up sticking together, that's certainly going to throw all the other guys who thought they were going to have a chance at Jade into a tailspin. I had forgotten how impossibly gorgeous Clare's skin and body are. Good lord, that woman is physically blessed. Watching the women in heels wobble their way down the cobblestone steps without a handrail gave me anxiety. Where is OSHA on this set? That is the opposite of safe, people! One wrong teetering of an ankle and you have a woman going ass over teakettle and either snapping her neck or smashing in her head. I only want ambulances to carry these people away for dehydration and emotional breakdowns!

LivingSpaces and their employees all knew the catalog shoot was being filmed, and everyone whose face was shown signed a waiver, so it seems that they would have understood that whatever happened might make it on the show. I still don't get why this big company would truck in tons of pieces for the shoot without any kind of checklists. Isn't that standard? Jeff's assistants probably helped during the time when Jeff chose everything he wanted to have brought to the house, but it was on LivingSpaces to make sure those pieces made it on the trucks. The warehouse being 2 hours away ensured that Jeff's people couldn't just run and pick up everything that was missing. At best they could have run to a local store to grab a few things to make do, and considering the shoot was Jeff's to design and direct, it would have made more sense for one of the LivingSpaces employees to run that errand, but no one seemed to offer. I agree that Jeff and Co. ended up acting like passive aggressive children, but this was after Jeff had repeatedly asked where things were he had ordered, only to be blankly informed "No, I didn't bring that. No, I didn't bring those." Jeff has a physical need for people to acknowledge when they make a mistake, and the way Channa appeared not to care that the things left behind were important is exactly the kind of thing that pushes his buttons. I mean, she brought no candles???? That is Staging 101, you always have candles, period. And if you legitimately forgot to make sure they were sent to the shoot, then how hard is it to say, "No, I didn't bring any candles, I'm sorry about that." An ounce of contrition would have gone a long way with Jeff. The whole thing was sloppy on both sides, but I'm still Team Jeff on this one.

Jeff just posted this on Facebook: Fired from @LivingSpaces. Can I take Advil for depression? #HR #channagate #scapegoat #kickedtothecurb #devasated Excuse me while I go eat my words, because apparently you CAN do your job poorly and make it bite someone else in the ass. I'm pretty surprised by this, honestly.

I expect that the majority of interior designers out there are in business to design spaces based on styles their clients request, but Jeff seems to be more on the side of "they know what my style is when they hire me, so my style must be what they want and is what they're going to get". Maybe that's one of the benefits of hitting the big time like Jeff has - his reputation precedes him in such away that he no longer has to "suffer" through designing homes using colors and styles that he doesn't personally like. No one is going to hire him to do the best French country kitchen money can buy, and if they tried he would turn the job down. Most designers don't have that luxury. But doesn't it seem like that would get dull after a while? Part of choosing a career in a field like this is usually because one enjoys being creatively challenged, and I'm not sure that's really part of Jeff's world anymore - he churns out one particular design style that is currently popular with enough wealthy people in California to cash their big checks and make a very comfortable living. I mean, I wouldn't mind cashing a bunch of fat checks either, I'm not hating on that, it just seems to go against one's creative nature to boil their own work down this way.

I think in the beginning George had no idea how the renovation would make him feel. He probably said okay because it was what his wife wanted, and he might have even thought he didn't care what Jeff did as long as his wife loved it. But then during the process he realized that he did care, but it was too late, everything he had liked about the home had been demolished and removed. So glad at least he ended up with some furniture pieces that made him feel more comfortable. There was some crazy wallpaper in their master bath that I was like, what even IS that???? I would be itchy spending time in a small room with that weird pattern all around me.

Yep, that's what I thought when I read it, too. It makes me so sad. I do believe the part about ironing Sean's socks was a joke, but the list itself was not. In fact, and again this is another example of a couple who went to weekly Baptist Small Group couples meetings to make their marriage "stronger" through God, my previous boss left To Do lists for his wife every day before he went off to be the bread winner. One day I happened to walk past his office and overhear him speaking on the phone to what I assumed was his young daughter who was in trouble, because the tone was so condescending - only no, he was getting onto his wife's ass because the previous day she had not completed everything on the list. He kept saying, "Michelle, no...listen to me, Michelle...I want to know, WHY you couldn't finish everything on the list. No...Michelle, that's not what I asked. I asked you WHY. Michelle...Michelle, listen to me..." and my kneejerk reaction was to look for something resembling a club that I could use to knock him over the head. One more anecdote, just because I do think it has relevance to where Sean and Catherine are headed if she doesn't make a change. My ex-boss' wife's mother has MS and is restricted to a wheelchair and has to wear adult diapers. Her husband had been the one to take care of her, he was always thankfully healthy and young for his age. One day he was playing racquetball, lost his balance while running, and bashed his skull into the wall. He survived, but needed lots of care during his long recovery, so Michelle brought them both into her home. In addition to taking care of their two children, keeping the house clean, the meals cooked, laundry done, etc., she had to change the diapers several times per day on both of her disabled parents, plus bathe them and everything else. Can you imagine? That is simply too much for one person to handle by themselves, right? So I asked my boss, "Are you going to take some time off to help Michelle with all this until her dad is able to take care of himself and his wife again?" He was the owner of the business, so he made his own rules and absolutely could have taken the time off, no problem. But here's what he said to me, with a straight face: "No, I'm not taking any time off, but I am lifting her up with prayer." Now tell me, can you not imagine Sean saying the same thing on his way out the door to hop in his Porsche as he leaves Catherine behind to deal whatever enormous personal nightmare may have come their way, because life WILL eventually throw a shit storm on people...or should I say God will shit "challenges and opportunities" down on people no matter how devout and backwards (in my opinion) of a life they might be leading. I didn't mind Sean having to try driving around in a minivan for a day or two, just so he can see that having kids means you don't always get to zip around in a cool car. It was certainly less invasive and sadistic than making Jason get his chest waxed. He was such a great sport about it, he really could have said no. There are always these manufactured dramatic moments on this show, but Molly's approach was so much more situation appropriate. I think back to when Jason cut her at the final rose, and she told him he was making a huge mistake, he would regret it later...not only was she right that he would regret it and come crawling back, she was so right about them belonging together. Nice to see.

I felt bad for George Eads when he was talking about how listening to everyone trash the way his house looked when it was full of things he had picked out was like a dagger through the heart. I eventually stopped watching House Hunters in part because it bugged me when someone would bash something that I had in my home, like, "OMG THOSE HIDEOUS CURTAINS! Ripping them down is the first thing I'm going to do in that house!" Um, those curtains are silk, motherfucker, and you can kiss my ass. The final straw was when someone went on and on about a ceiling fan that they just couldn't handle in any way, and it was one I had recently put in our living room. Sure, not everyone's taste is the same, but you don't have to be shitty about someone else's choices. Listening to people snark so hard on his stuff right in front of his face must have suuuuuuucked. And to be honest, the minimalist thing doesn't work for me, it gives me unhappy feelings. The Eads' new kitchen and living area looked cold and not at all welcoming to me. I am less likely to feel depressed in a room with shag carpet, a rock fireplace and big fluffy pillows than I am in a stark room full of hard lines and dead space. I'm kind of excited that Jeff's temporary home won't be ready in time and he had to buy back another old property. It's fun watching him work his magic, even though it sounds like he's going to do the modern, hard, cold, minimalist thing again. Where did Jeff even find a grown person who thinks what human beings breathe in all day and night is carbon dioxide? No matter how dim his bulb may be, I will always like him better than Andrew, but damn. That was sad. Someone slipped through the cracks of the educational system.

This did nothing to improve my opinion of Sean. If anything, he seems worse - possibly because now that he has married a woman who has fallen in line with what he wants, he no longer has to pretend not to be a completely selfish ass. When I saw him and Catherine sitting with their Small Group from church I shuddered, because I don't know if it's just a southern Baptist thing, but I've had friends who got involved with that exact same kind of couples "love language" group discussions, and I watched them turn into people I didn't even recognize, especially my girlfriend who I'd been close to since high school. She'd always been confident, independent, had opinions... but by the last time I was with her she was like some kind of 1950's Stepford wife who "understood" that God wanted her to be a good wife, which meant her husband was the master of the household, and what he says goes. She started getting an allowance instead of being able to just use their joint account like she'd done before, she was admonishing HERSELF if dinner wasn't on the table at the time she had promised it would be, and weekend activities were decided by her husband which meant she started to go with him on hunting trips as basically his lackey. I had to peace out from the friendship because watching all that made me feel ill, and I could feel the same stirrings when I saw that not only had Sean made a To Do list of chores that Catherine was to have done by the time he came home, but he had drawn a cross on it, as if to remind her that this is what God wants her to do. So. Gross. Jason and Molly, on the other hand, were pretty delightful. They seem truly happy and comfortable in their life together, their daughter might cry a lot but my goodness is she ever a cutie, and in general they came across as people I wouldn't at all mind hanging out with. Molly is lovely, and I very much appreciated that she made sure Sean understood that no, Catherine is NOT perfectly happy just cooking and cleaning for him. and seeing only his friends and going only to places he likes to go.

Oh, that's right! He did own Gramercy twice, I had completely forgotten. He bought it and flipped it, but had regrets and considered it "the one that got away", so when it came available again, he bought it for himself.

Wow. Yeah, that is some highly unbecoming behavior. I went from Team Anybody But Nick to Ride Or Die Team Nick weeks ago because of how badly Shawn was acting, and this only makes me glad to know that those two jerkfaces have found each other and that Nick is better off. I only wish he could have been cut loose in time to run on over to Paradise, where no one cares how you emotionally toss objects, as long as you toss them emotionally.

I think it's possible that a lot of Bobbi Kristina's family went through the whole mourning process when they were told she was brain dead. They've had a lot of time to grieve because they really lost her months ago, so it could be that her official physical death has had less of an emotional effect for some of them, like Dionne. I wouldn't wish Ramona on Michael Rappaport - he seems nice! I wouldn't wish her on anyone, though.

Urnthony would be more fun at that game night than Jim Edmonds would have been, too.

I love them so much. I die inside that we won't get any more sketches like this once the season is done.

When Bethenny makes fun of someone like the way she was making fun of Ramona, it's always after that person has displayed some kind of ridiculous behavior. She's not making fun of Ramona for being single and possibly looking for a new romantic relationship, she's making fun of the way Ramona demands to see throngs of good looking men wherever she is with Bethenny as if there is nothing else that matters in the world, and then even when Bethenny invites her to an event specifically tailored to those demands, Ramona still complains, insults some of the men, and then leaves early because there just weren't enough men of a high enough quality for her. I appreciated that Bethenny was able to laugh and turn it into a joke instead of blowing her top because this is the kind of shit Ramona pulls all the time. I continue to be shocked every week when no one punches Ramona right in her smug face.

I didn't see it coming at all that Michael Rappaport would be such a genuine Real Housewives fan. He was even able to reenact Bethenny's "Well maybe I DO know it all" quote from several episodes ago, verbatim with appropriate pausing, from memory! Impressive. I almost wish he had been on with someone besides Ramona, because I would love to have heard his opinion of her.

I agree! I think the reason Ramona is constantly saying WHERE ARE THE HOT GUYS? I NEED MORE HOT GUYS! WOW LOOK AT THE WAY MEN FLOCK TO ME! MEN JUST GRAVITATE TOWARD ME! I CAN'T STAY AT A DINNER OR EVENT WHERE I'M NOT SURROUNDED BY HOT MEN! is 100% because she hopes Mario sees it on the show. She's trying desperately to make him jealous by shouting from the mountaiintops about how totally into dating men she is now that she's single and ready to mingle. On the flip side, Ramona has created this list of Must Haves when it comes to exactly what man is worthy of her time, because it's a security blanket that she drapes over her insecurities and fears that there aren't going to be any worthwhile men who genuinely want to date her bitchy, obnoxious, thoughtless, crazy, rude as fuck, selfish, well-shaped ass. She can smile coyly and shrug every time someone calls her out for being an epic asshole, she can act like it doesn't bother her because she's just a strong woman who knows who she is and what she wants, but those words have to stick somewhere, and when she is home alone at night with nothing but her thoughts, she can't just shrug and plaster on a fake smile to convince herself everyone else is wrong and that she's any man's dream...she knows who she is, all right, and who she is SUCKS. I find her completely loathsome on the same level that I find Kim Zolciak and Vicki Gunvalson loathsome. I would like to personally put those three women on a deserted island where they have to deal with each other - and in doing so get a healthy dose of themselves- and not bother other, normal people. The scenes between Carole and Dorinda had me mesmerized; I think there were even times I was holding my breath to better hear what they were saying. They have both lived through my worst nightmare, and I am astounded by their strength. I am pretty sure in that situation I wouldn't be finding any inner strength to draw from, or digging up courage I didn't know I had. I would curl up in a ball in a pile of Mr. Irritable's clothes, and stay there until I starved to death or dried up. Anyone who can pull themselves up from that has my deepest respect. and their conversations were beautiful in their raw truth. I appreciated having so many laughs in the second half to balance things out. I laughed so hard when Sonja said she had a veterinarian who could fix her tooth. It's so nice to have funny Sonja back again - whether she is being intentionally funny or drunken-blurt funny, doesn't matter to me.

I'll never understand what it is about Zoila that Jeff adores so much. He takes amazing care of her - remember when he gave her an EFFING CAR??? Mystifying how such a smart, funny, generous man who likes to surround himself with people who make him laugh would decide Zoila is so special. Blech.

Channa deserves whatever she gets for thinking she could just "forget" to bring what Jeff asks for, every time, and somehow that would bite him in the ass with their boss instead of her. That's not how it works, honey - if you do a poor job, it reflects poorly on YOU. How is it possible that a company large enough to have these big, expensive catalog shoots didn't already have a checklist in place? There were hundreds of pieces being trucked in, are we supposed to believe there was no inventory paperwork to accompany it? Come on. Zoila has never been funny or interesting to me, I don't see any reason for her to have scenes on this show at all. In all these years, she hasn't been able to increase her vocabulary even a little, or improve her English? Calling people a bitch or an idiot is still all she's got, and we are supposed to think it's cute or clever? No. I'm sad to see Grammercy go, but I'm looking forward to seeing what he chooses for their next home. I had forgotten about the amazing city skyline view they had there.

Yes!!!!! This killed me, too. The thing with narcissists is that no matter how many years I witness their behavior and know that I should expect it, I still managed to be shocked by their self-centered words and actions on a regular basis. People like this just seem like they can't be real!