The Eleven of ‘11

The following is a list of eleven categories of my personal highs (and lows) of 2011. In no particular order…

1. Best New TV Show(s):

                                   

Once Upon A Time

                    

Downton Abbey (Season one is available to watch on PBS if you haven’t seen it yet, but you should hurry, it’s not available after the 1st. Season 2 starts Jan. 8 here in the US.)

2. Best Book(s):

I’ve read a lot the past few months but these two stick out in my mind,

Divergent, yes, I actually like it better than Hunger Games.

                   

The History of Love

                     

3. Best Food:

                                       

Ethiopian food, had it in Chicago, delicious and totally new to us. Everything comes out to you on a big platter and you eat it by tearing bits of bread and grabbing the food with it.Try it if you can!

                                          

Zach and I learned to make Chicken Tikka Masala for ourselves using this recipe and it’s awesome!

Top 5 Favorite Christmas Songs

Zach is always picking on me, saying that anytime I pose a "What are your top 5 favorite...." question, that I always cheat and go over five. Well maybe I do (though I don't think it's cheating, it just means I love everyone/everything equally and don't want to leave anyone out because I'm a wonderful person). But today I'm going to limit myself to choosing my top 5 favorite Christmas songs. Which means that I have to go with my gut. Here they are in no particular order. 

Honorable Mention:
Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree – Brenda Lee
Blue Christmas – Elvis, though really it’s because I like the back up singer’s part
Christmas Don’t Be Late – Alvin and the Chipmunks

Now, Top 5 Christmas CAROLS (See what I did? Because Christmas carols and Christmas songs are different.)

I Figured It Out

Texas (and the country) has a huge deficit when it comes to educational funding. We just don’t have the money. Thousands of teaching jobs were cut last year and the ones who did keep their jobs have to deal with higher student ratios in their classrooms. So we have more kids in each room, fewer teachers and, don’t panic, the STARR test.

I figured out how to solve the problem. Well, part of the problem anyway.

This chart shows the salary of Superintendents in several districts of Texas. Keep in mind these figures are for the smaller districts (See the numbers under “Enrollment”? That really is the number of students enrolled in the entire district. We’re talking 1A.)



I didn’t know surperintendents were paid according to how many students were in their district. Why is that? They don’t actually have to deal with any of them. It’s not like they’re trying to teach in a classroom of 25. Why do they get paid for number of students but not the teachers?

But I digress.