OC Initiation

We had so much fun at the end of the season party. I got to meet the other housewives on the show and take pictures with them. We had a blast. Jo is a super fun person and amazingly outgoing, and Tammy was very sweet. It was a perfect end of summer party.

This has been a hard time for Raquel finding herself and what she wants to do with her life. She did not finish beauty school, but went on to find a job in retail and was recently promoted to assistant manager of Duo in Laguna Beach. Alexa is working with I Booker Media and finishing high school, so they are focused and I'm working to keep them on track.

I think that in society, people like Gretchen are a rare find. She truly loved Jeff with all her heart and she saw him for his spirit, not his age or money. Gretchen has a mothering personality — she even takes care of her dogs like they are her children. She is all around a good person, and people can say what they want, but the reality is she DID love him and she DID take good care of him until he unfortunately passed on.

I think the other women don't want to get to know me because they have judged and decided who I am without any facts to back it up. But I also feel like the more time they spend with me, the better they get to know me. It's all just part of the initiation process. Slowly the walls are coming down and that's a good thing, because they are, with or without their quirks, a great group of people.

If a new housewife joined the cast, I would give her the same advice that was give to me by a good friend: be true to yourself. Sometimes people can be mean and sometimes life never works out the way you want it to or how you thought it would, but if you stay true to yourself and are always grateful for all the things you have instead if the things you do not, it will always work out. I would also say don't take anything to heart and focus on all the nice things people say, instead of comments from people who want to brake you or crush your spirit.

This season has been amazing - watching your life on TV is the best therapy. I have learned to not take things so seriously and maybe to pull in the reins on the girls a bit more. I've learned that I am very lucky in my life, and that maybe I should express my feelings a little more verbally so people don't think I'm indifferent. But overall, I like my life, and myself, but being on the show has definitely been a learning experience. I like the other housewives, but I can be defensive, and who isn't? They haven't known me that long. You don't have to like everyone you meet, but I have to say as far as the other housewives, I respect them all.

I feel like the fans saw my family and me in an honest light, they saw the good, the bad, and the ugly. I don't think fans have to many misconceptions about me. Anyone who knows me understands me, and I think next season they will get to know me even better.

I would love to tell fans of the Real Housewives of Orange County to join my Fan Space and win one of my cuffs. We will be doing an electronic drawing of site members on March 20th. It's FREE to join — all you do is go to my site www.LynneCurtin.com then click Fan Space and create a page.