The quarter that wouldn't end

I probably shouldn't have gotten so used to the college semester system where everyone starts over after winter break. As it is, I've got students coming up to me now (the penultimate day of the quarter) to ask "Hey, what's this assignment I'm missing from mid-November?" Part of me is like, "Really? You're coming to me with this now? After I've given you a grade report every other week since then?" and the other part is like "WTF did we do in November?" The students' motivation and my sanity are at all-time lows. We all need to wipe the slate clean and start a new quarter. Third quarter, while it always feels extremely long because it falls in the dead of winter, is shorter in terms of calendar weeks. And it ends right before Spring Break, which just feels right.

Family lore has it that the weather will not be nice again until my brother Andrew's birthday, which is April 21st (and actually, Minnesota's meterological data supports this). So we've got a good three months to settle in and be cold. In fact, this Friday, which is exactly the three-month mark, will be the coldest day of the winter so far. And I'm taking the Mock Trial team to Fillmore County for their first regional competition that day. Brrr.