Sleep, dreams, and the end of Winter quarter

On February 2nd I wrote "I expect to be caught up on work and back with something to report in a week or two."

And now it's March 11th.

Last night I finally got as much sleep as my body wanted, mainly because I got up at 4:00 in the morning to take Orhan and Jem to the airport. (They are off visiting Eli in Minnesota.)

How did this lead to enough sleep? Well, we left the house at 4:15, and I was back home and back in bed at 5:15 with the alarm set, at usual, for 7:00. When it went off, some part of my brain decided that hell no was it getting up again that soon. Two hours later I woke up feeling positively perky.

Of course, I dreamed about work while I was busy getting enough sleep, but that's normal, and the dream work involved talking with students during office hours, something I nearly always enjoy.

In the dream, about 15 students showed up at my office and I started talking with them before I realized that it was not my day for office hours and that they were all supposed to be in class with a TA. Office hours are on my mind a lot because as the quarter winds down -- we have one week of classes, then finals -- I have scheduled extra times for students to drop by the library. (I hold office hours there instead of in my office. It's easier and more welcoming for them, and it keeps me away from departmental politics.)

This year the end of Winter quarter logistics are also complicated by the fact that I have a conference next week. The annual Conference on College Composition and Communication (aka "four Cs") starts on Thursday, with some pre-conference events on Wednesday. Unfortunately, this means canceling the last day of class, which would be Thursday. Fortunately, I knew before the start of the quarter that I would need to and planned accordingly.

Another unfortunate aspect of the timing is that I won't see Orhan for over a week; his flight back from Minnesota lands four minutes before mine takes off for Portland.

But then -- extra office hours during finals week, a few days of intense grading, and then DONE!

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