Mad to the Bone

Ryan and I recently became 100% addicted to Mad Men. Here's how it happened.

Over Christmas break, we started Friday Night Lights (which is awesome by the way. At least before Season 3 while the show was still actually ABOUT football and not abortion). We powered through it in less than 3 weeks. It was great. Everyone had gone home for the holidays, and we sat on the couch with no curfew and nowhere to be for hours and hours. We loved it.

After that, we watched all of Parks & Rec (Ryan hadn't seen many of them), and obviously plenty of The Office. We even tried a little Veronica Mars and a few episodes of Dexter. But nothing was OUR show yet.

Arrested Development came closest. Classic. I can't say enough good things about Arrested Development. If you've never seen it, I don't know why you're reading my blog and not watching it right now. Between Hulu and Netflix online streaming you have no excuse.

But then we were married, with tons of boring married time to fill. Kids? Psh. No. We're looking for a TV show. I noticed that Mad Men recently became available, so we decided to give it a try.

AND IT BLEW OUR MINDS.

The style. The class. The chivalry and chauvinism. The drama. The love. The betrayal. The hope. The comedy. The irony. The heartbreak. The sarcasm. All of it unreal. It's really like no other show I've ever seen. I gush about their clothes and makeup every single episode. I still melt when I see Don Draper opening doors and lighting cigarettes and taking coats from women. (When did we lose such courtesy in society?) Sterlings' smooth charm and biting wit is fantastic. Even the annoying characters (Pete Campbell) leave you with a false sense of friendship, like  you know them in real life and their douchebaggery is occasionally excusable.

True. All they do is drink, smoke and cheat on their wives. But it's in a suprisingly conservative manner. Oh? There are consequences for drinking too much and adultery? This show demonstrates a part of that. Definitely glamorized. But awful things happen to these men for their awful decisions on occasion, much like real life. (Not smoking, though. Science really hadn't caught up with it yet. I feel like I got secondhand smoke just from watching it.) It shows semi-real life in a watchable and interesting way, sparing no characters or emotions.

But my favorite part? Her.

Joan. Joanie. The color and life of the show. She is the girl to go to. At one point she left the office (covered in blood, not her own, no less), and I was considering not watching anymore. Thankfully, she returned, all her charm and wit with her. I love her confidence. Her active mind. Her comfortable demeanor and earned respect with the big wig men. And I LOVE her curves. A girl after my own heart (and body). Who would pick a straight boyish physique over her red hot (pun intended) curves? I love her. She's fantastic. Watch it, if only for Joan.

A few weeks ago Courtney gave me the best compliment of my life. She said "You're totally a Joan." Tears to my eyes, you guys. Tears to my eyes. 

Out of the Mouth of Babes

Out of the Mouth of Babes

I know I can't compete with this gem for student-answer entertainment. But I had a good one today.

When explaining the importance of a certain news article, my student wrote:

"People get pissed off at rapists."

In his defense, they do. They totally do.

Goodbyes Are Such B*tches, You Guys.

I don't know who decided to fill my dream summer with bittersweet moments, but it wasn't me. And don't start into the whole "You can't have the bitter without the sweet." I know. I get it. But still. I spent a decent amount of my summer saying goodbye to things I loved.

First, The Office. Well, The Office as it should be. I WILL still be following The Office this fall, without Michael Scott. But we all know it will never be the same. Laugh all you want at Little Miss Danica, but The Office means a lot to me. It defined me during formative years. It nails my humor in a singular way. There have been times when I've felt lost, discouraged, depressed, and the only prescription that seemed to work was the friendly Jim/Dwight rivalry, a handful of ignorant Michael Scott comments, a dash of wacky Creed, and general Office camaraderie.

The clock just would not stop ticking as the "Goodbye Michael" episode neared. I didn't even want to watch it. I felt like a part of me would die or be lost. The Office without Michael is like chips with no salsa. Coke with no Diet. Danica with no Beard. OBVIOUSLY I was gonna watch it. But I was scared. Especially to watch it with The Beard. I knew I'd be emotional. And I've never really been a crier. But it was inevitable. The Beard would have to see that side of me sooner or later.

Well, it was sooner. I fell to pieces. Absolutely fell apart. Ryan's white tee sleeve was streaked with mascara. I couldn't believe it was happening. The moment between Jim and Michael melted my heart completely. The years of frustration and anger dissolved in the cathartic goodbye that wasn't. They did a fantastic job. It was hard, but it was time. I said goodbye.

Then it was goodbye to the LAO. No need to dwell on that. It's all been said and done.

When a student is struggling with a concept, the recommendation is to increase the FIT.

Frequency

Intensity

Time

I practiced my crying by increasing all three of these during Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 2. It didn't stop. My head was throbbing. The Beard watched with me and concealed his embarrassment. That's why I love him. It was really hard to say goodbye to Harry Potter. Again, something I've loved since I was probably 11. Harry Potter is amazing. J.K. Rowling saved books. Twilight is ridiculous (although I read them), Hunger Games are pretty awesome, and there are other respectable options for young adult and universally appealing fiction. But I think I'm right in saying nothing will touch Harry Potter. Ever, probs. I love to reread them. The movies got better and better. The geek humor of following Harry Potter religiously is incredibly endearing. Thank you, J.K. Rowling. Thank you Harry Potter.

Finally, I said goodbye to my last name. Danica Budge had such a nice ring to it. That's been my name. It's everywhere. Email, Twitter, all kinds of social media, all my online shopping accounts (which are numerous, I assure you). Social Security was a bit of a hassle. Changing my information with Nebo School District took a while. I still haven't even dealt with BYU. It's still a little weird when I habitually sign my name "Danica Budge." Have 200 kids call me "Mrs. Holdaway!" or "Mrs. HALDaway!" all day has helped with the tradition.

But you know what? I love being a Holdaway. I didn't shed a tear over that one. I've joined another family that I'm so proud to be a part of. I like to label myself as The Beard's by taking his name. It's an indication of our new little family. I'll always be a Budge. But now I'm a Holdaway. And it feels great.

All the Nice Things are for "Guests"

In case you missed it (meaning you aren't on Twitter), I was a guest blogger for the redeemingly bitchy and relentlessly hilarious Untypically Jia over the weekend while she enjoyed a nice little vacation. Click here and please enjoy!

This is What Marriage Looks Like:

At least for us.