Margaret Thatcher has passed

Tags

blogs, England, Great Britain, news, postaday2013, Prime Minister, writing

Today the news coverage was very extensive over the passing of Margaret Thatcher at 87 years of age. The coverage was quite varied from extremely complimentary to quite critical, I would think that the varied reactions show how important and influential Margaret Thatcher’s policies were domestically and internationally. If she hadn’t had such an influence, her passing would have elicited less of a response

What I remember about Margaret Thatcher is her close relationship with our former President Ronald Reagan, they seemed to be two peas in a pod. I used to wonder if Nancy Reagan was ever jealous. I was a teenager back then so my mind would go to the potential love triangle and such, just like in my favorite soap opera’s General Hospital and One Life to Live. Former President Reagan said himself that in Margaret Thatcher he had found a soulmate, so one could see how I could have wondered about any jealousy on Nancy’s part. That reminds me of something a former governor of South Carolina or was it North Carolina, anyway it was one of the Carolina’s, Mark Sanford when he explained why he had lied about his disappearance on the Appalachian Trail; he had told everyone that he went hiking when in actuality he had gone off to see his mistress. His explanation for keeping a mistress was that she was his soulmate. I don’t think married men should refer to other women as their soul-mates, it just doesn’t seem right.

Anyway, I am not saying that Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher were doing anything untoward but it seemed odd to me that one would refer to the other as a soul-mate. They did share the same economical and limited government vision even though they had an odd way of showing it. They both seemed to view big military as crucial to government. Ronald Reagan had his “Star Wars” initiative, his explosive defense spending that had put the U.S in the red for years after. Margret Thatcher had her war in the Falkland Islands which I never understood why it happened in the first place. The Falkland Islands are so very far away from Great Britain but that was then and Reagan sent help during that time.

Seeing Margaret Thatcher’s tributes and reactions to her passing just reminded me about how much Ronald Reagan and she had influenced both their own countries and the world beyond their terms, the direction that the United States and Great Britain would go far into the next century. I wonder if they realized this when they were discussing policy and when they were just talking, if they would dream about the future and their own legacies. I see those two sitting in easy chairs sipping brandy and agreeing with each other over a variety of issues. It’s a vivid portrait of two people comfortable with power.

I will be in my easy chair playing spider solitaire on my iPad feeling very comfortable with my special power of solving my little mental gymnastic games.

In a rut

Do you ever get into a food rut, eating the same meal over and over? If so, what's your rut? How do you get out of the rut?

I never think of my eating habits as being in a rut. I do eat the same foods over and over again but I like it that way. I will admit that my relationship with food has always been turbulent and I try very hard to make it work for me in the most healthy way possible. The baby girl actually commented on the fact that she couldn't do as I do and live in the same predictable food rut day in and day out. She finds it to be boring. Honestly her comment didn't bother me because I don't mind be boring. Even though I eat the same bowl of oatmeal on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, I still look forward to it because I know that I am doing my body a lot of good and I also really like oatmeal. The same goes for Tuesdays and Thursdays when it is rye toast with butter and Bonne Maman preserves; either the fig, peach or wild blueberry. The weekends is cereal time, my cereal du jour for now is the Quaker Oats Oatmeal Squares with a hint of cinnamom, they stay crunchy in milk.

During the week for lunch it's either turkey and provolone cheese with mustard on rye as a sandwich or smoked salmon with whipped cream cheese on poppy seed and black pepper water crackers for lunch and dinner means vegetables.

Whenever we go out to restaurants, my food "rut" goes out the window because I love to try new things all the time but when I'm at home I like to eat the tried and true, it makes eating for me much easier and less stressful.

I almost forgot weekends, I am ashamed to say that my good eating habits go out the window on weekends. Intellectually I know that it is wrong and not very good for me or my psyche but I do it anyway. I should stop indulging in the large amounts of ice cream on the weekends but I haven't as of yet. The only reason that I am contemplating not eating my usually unhealthy amounts of Chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream is because warmer weather is coming and a few pounds less on my frame would be lovely during the warmer months.

Out of all the relationships in my life, food is the most contentious; the love and hate, the push me and pull me. The I can't live with you but I can't live without you. In my experience food is never boring, even if others consider me being in a rut about it.