The long-anticipated season 3 of House of Cards was released on Friday. While some of us joked at lunch last week that we’d be glued to our TV sets this weekend, I’m not sure how many of us actually got to spend all that quality time with our favorite politically savvy, morally bankrupt couple. If there’s never enough time to read all the books on our “on-deck” list, then there’s even less for all the TV that’s out there (maybe this summer will finally be the one I tackle Breaking Bad).

Regardless of the merits (or not) of sitting in front of a television for 13 hours straight, what I really want is more time. Time: it’s the one thing that we always need. More time to plan, more time to grade, more time to meet with students, more time to collaborate with colleagues, more time to read, more time to spend with our family, and yes, sometimes, more time to engage in a guilty pleasure like House of Cards. (If I could have just one magical item from the Harry Potter world, it would be Hermione’s time turner necklace.)

But as I sit here at 3:13 p.m.—the students on the prom committee left about 20 minutes ago—I’m staring at a pile of papers that desperately need to be graded.

So I’m sorry, Frank Underwood, you’ll just have to wait.

(Also waiting is Kelly Gallagher, whose book sits patiently at the side of my desk).

(As an aside, for any House of Cards fans out there, here’s the best line I’ve read about the series so far, courtesy of Vulture, which described this season as “a deranged horror-film cousin of The West Wing, starring a cross between Jed Bartlet and Macbeth.”)

This post is part of the “Slice of Life” series, organized by the teachers at Two Writing Teachers, whose goal is to give teachers a place to write and reflect. This March, more than 200 teachers have committed to daily writing. If you’d like to read more “slices” (from other teachers and even some students), visit twowritingteachers.wordpress.com/challenges.