X-Ray Vision

When I said last season that I didn't cook, I wasn't joking. Obviously.

Here's the thing – there are approximately 9000 other things that I'd rather do than cook. Getting dental work ranks up there, as does cleaning dog poop out of Paul's closet. I'd rather return my favorite shoes, and give up my handbag collection. Cooking is not therapeutic for me. I have been told that for some people, the satisfaction of presenting a meal to their family can be fulfilling.

Great. I'm all for presenting a meal to my family. As a matter of fact I can present Chinese and Indian and sushi and Italian to them all in one night. Welcome to Takeout Taxi, loves. That little menu catalog they send around about all their restaurants is the best cookbook I know.

I know Lisa wants to know why she didn't know about my tanning booth. I'd like to counter that I didn't know she was regularly cooking chickens over at her house. Amazing what secrets neighbors keep!

On to a more serious subject. . .

They say that hindsight is 20/20. Well if that is true, then watching events play out on television means you suddenly get X-ray vision, and you can see absolutely everything. Going into the spa day I didn't have that luxury. All I knew of Game Night was the overall picture of what both Brandi and Kyle had relayed to me, and one of the things that had stuck out to me was Brandi's comment about Kim, which both Brandi and Kyle admitted took place. I knew that any comment about her sister from a virtual stranger would be a huge trigger for Kyle, so at that point I thought I understood what had taken place and why Kyle acted the way she did. I didn’t excuse it, but I thought I understood it. I didn’t know about all of the other details from that difficult night, so when the girls got together at my spa day I believed that the first extension of the olive branch rested on Brandi’s plate.

Knowing what I know now, I would obviously have made different choices.

Do I think that Kyle and Kim were right to treat Brandi that way on game night? No, of course not. Absolutely not. But I’m not alone in that sentiment. Kyle herself has been the first one to step out and say that she isn’t proud of her actions, and as her friend, I have to tell you that isn't the Kyle I know, either. You are seeing one side of her. People are wondering why I am not coming down harder on her, but you are only seeing one side of her. You have to understand that I see all the other sides of her, too and I know that you are seeing some of her self-admittedly worst moments. I think we are all human, we all make mistakes -- some that are very painful for others -- and if the whole world judged us solely on those bad moments, no one would come out a winner.

There is something else that I don't think people realize. At the time of the spa day, I had known Kyle a lot longer than I had known Brandi. I see Brandi as very real, and what you see with Brandi is what you get with her, which makes me appreciate her all that much more. I enjoy her company, and therefore introduced her to the group. But I had known Kyle longer, and maybe that's why I had a tendency to give her more leeway, as anyone might when it's a good friend who is involved.

That being said, I don't excuse what went down at game night. I would not have asked Brandi to apologize that day had I been at Game Night. I think I would have still tried to broker a peace agreement, but I wouldn't have asked Brandi to make the first move. I have to give her credit because despite it all, she did buck up and try. She's a strong woman, and even watching it again I saw the effort she made. Unfortunately, I think it was still too soon to let things go for everyone involved. Both sides threw some pretty personal digs out there on Game Night, and as much as I wanted apologies to fix things, it wasn't going to happen yet.

It isn't easy being stuck in the middle!

For those of you who have asked, yes -- I do have all of those spa treatments in one of the rooms of my guest house. It's like buying a stationary bike though -- as much as you think you're going to use it all the time, you don't. So despite the tension, I was really glad to have the girls over and have the chance to pamper them a little bit. We did have some laughs -- Camille's "experience" with the tanning machine still cracks me up.

To this day I wonder what she was doing in there! LOL

Xoxo,
Adrienne

P.S. Lisa, don't worry about me knowing my way around the bedroom. I’m clear on where all my spices are up there!

P.P.S. I really do love my family too much to cook for them.