Surrounded by Men

One thing that I have not mentioned previously is that I am surrounded by men.

• At home, I have Simon and Jake.
  
• In my group at work, the men outnumber the women by about 5 to 1.
  
• At school, there are 8 women in our program of 100 students. We are further divided at school into two classes and into work teams- my class of 50 people has 3 women. My team has 5 guys and me.

What is different about being surrounded by men, rather than being surrounded by women? Well, I suppose there is a lot less drama. Generally, men - at least in a group setting- tend to not get so wrapped up in the frivolous details of a situation. Conversations tend to be very concrete, less about feelings. Most conversations with men (when not directly related to the technical issues at work- or the latest project or assignment at school) are fairly light and external. (as opposed to very heavy and internally driven)

I am not making any judgments here. The point of bringing this up is not to weigh the merits of male company versus female, but rather to explore the current environment to determine what , if anything that I may be personally deficient in as a female in the male domain.

Right now there is a lively conversation taking place about a sports team. Earlier they discussed Global Warming and the merits of using MSN Live Maps versus Google. In conversation- at least at work- Men talk to show what they know. There is a lot of information laid out. A lot of opinion, stated as fact.

Functioning in this "other" world is interesting. At home, I have it down. Simon is very supportive of sharing the roles- he is actually a "dream husband"- he cooks, cleans and does laundry. Honestly, sometimes I would prefer if he handled some of the more traditional guy things and left the more traditional women things to me (like washing delicates!), but you can't have it both ways...we have to work as a team.

At work, things are a bit more competitive than I would perfer. There is a lot of posturing and problem solving. There is no room for female venting. If I vent, I get solutions. When as a female, what I want is understanding- not answers.

At school- I struggle with math, and in the grad school business program there is a lot of math. The guys on my team love math. I was actually really excited when we began working on our first Marketing project. Marketing is very qualitative, right? No math! I was going to be a the star of the team- working this marketing stuff! Well, we got started with our sections and, wouldn't you know it? The guys on my team turned this into a math assignment. We had a complete market cost analysis in our report.

I have very little girlfriend time right now. Prior to starting school I got together with 12 girlfriends to play Bunco each month- but this group seems to have disbanded. I speak to my sister and my mom almost daily, my mother in law once a week. There are a few old school friends that I have become reacquainted with lately, but they live a long ways away- so our relationships are primarily virtual. I have a great hair stylist! I do grab girlfriends for coffee break at work during the week as well-anything to get in some female conversation time. Once school gets out I will definately have to work on this more.

Half American...Half English

On Tuesday, Simon was sworn in as an American citizen. He is now both a citizen of England and a citizen of the U.S. The road to this milestone began almost 10 years ago when we met, fell in love and decided to spend the rest of our lives together.

In the last 10 years, Simon has undoubtably made many more sacrifices than I have for the sake of our relationship. To pack up and leave one's homeland and to start a new life in a foreign country would be a daunting undertaking for many of us.

If you were to ask Simon what he misses most, I am sure he would tell you his parents first, followed by a list of his favorite foods. I think I would make the same list- family and friends and various American foods.

When we visit England, it is usually Christmas time. Now, I know that most people believe that English food is hardly worth raving about-but I believe that there are some noteworthy items. For instance, we always have to have fish and chips at least once during our stay. English fish and chips are far superior to ours. You actually get a substantial fillet and it is served wrapped in paper with malt vinegar and/or mayonaisse for the chips. Sausage rolls, scones, mince pies with brandy butter, bangers and mash, steak and guiness pie, shepards pie, trifle, cheese and pickle sandwiches...these are all quite good. And in the words W. Somerset Maugham "If you want to eat well in England, eat three breakfasts". English bacon and sausages are marvelous and the cooked English Breakfast is wonderful.

In honor of Simon's naturalization, here is a recipe for Shepherd's Pie. This is one of his favorite comfort foods. Shepherd's pie traditionally contains lamb instead of ground beef. The version of Shepherd's Pie that most American's are familiar with is called "Cottage pie" across the pond.

Shepherd's Pie

1 1/2 lbs ground lamb
1 onion chopped
1-2 cups vegetables - chopped carrots, corn, peas
1 1/2 - 2 lbs potatoes (3 big ones)
8 tablespoons butter (1 stick)
1/2 cup beef broth
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Salt, pepper, other seasonings of choice

1 Peel and quarter potatoes, boil in salted water until tender (about 20 minutes).
2 While the potatoes are cooking, melt 4 Tablespoons butter (1/2 a stick) in large frying pan.
3 Sauté onions in butter until tender over medium heat (10 mins). If you are adding vegetables, add them according to cooking time. Put any carrots in with the onions. Add corn or peas either at the end of the cooking of the onions, or after the meat has initially cooked.

4 Add ground beef and sauté until no longer pink. Add salt and pepper. Add worcesterchire sauce. Add half a cup of beef broth and cook, uncovered, over low heat for 10 minutes, adding more beef broth as necessary to keep moist.
5 Mash potatoes in bowl with remainder of butter, season to taste.

6 Place beef and onions in baking dish. Distribute mashed potatoes on top. Rough up with a fork so that there are peaks that will brown nicely. You can use the fork to make some designs in the potatoes as well.
7 Cook in 400 degree oven until bubbling and brown (about 30 minutes). Broil for last few minutes if necessary to brown.

Won't be getting through my "to do" list today...

It's 5:30pm, and I think it is fair to say that I will not be getting through my "to do" list today. Time to start eliminating those things that can be done later.

• I was going to make a nice roast pork, but we are having pizza instead. I will put the roast in a crock pot tomorrow morning.


• The apple crisp for work will wait until Thursday night (we are having a Halloween party on Friday- so this is acceptable.)


• I was going to get on the treadmill (I know- exercise should be a priority)

That leaves:

• Post to my blog (check!)
• Grocery shopping
• Cleaning off my desk in the office
• Cleaning clothes off of couch
• 1 of 2 work assignments - will make tomorrow go much more smoothly if I can do this tonight! Won't get through both of them- but should I really be working on a Sunday???

Weekends never seem to be long enough. Or perhaps, my "to do" lists are never short enough...I always make a list and rarely find that I have time to accomplish everything on it. I need to scale down, and I need to exercise- these should be my priorities.

My "done" list for today is somewhat impressive- considering I slept in (must take care of myself first!).

• I planted my daffodil bulbs
• Paid bills
• Filled in my mail in election ballot
• Made a grocery list and completed part of my shopping
• Made a list of chores for Jake (he needs money)
• Composed email invite for my co-workers for Halloween party
• Brought in and sorted through my Halloween decor
• oH! and I completed my blog entry. (The End)