Is it just me, or does bathing suit shopping make all women want to move permanently to a colder climate? This week, as I started packing for an upcoming work trip, I had a moment to ponder bathing suits and body image.
Welcome to the 56th edition of The Sunday Spark, a series with weekly thoughts and highlights, nuggets of learning, and a decluttering challenge for the week. Along with thoughts on bathing suit shopping and body image, this week’s edition looks at a reusable container pilot in Canadian supermarkets, moving species from endangered to extinct, violence against women in Canada, and home office decluttering.
On my mind this week: Bathing suit shopping and body image
There’s nothing like bathing suit shopping, or bathing suits in general, to stir up body image issues and feelings of inadequacy!
Let me start by saying I’m usually not overly concerned about body image. I’ve accepted the fact that I’ll never be skinny. Rather than obsessing about my flaws (and there are more than a few of them), I prefer to appreciate the things my body has done for me. I have carried and given birth to two amazing human beings. I’ve survived cancer surgery and treatment. And, as I approach my 60th birthday, I’m more active than ever and consider myself in decent shape.
Later this week, I’m heading to Arizona for a short work trip. I won’t have a lot of downtime, so I thought I’d pack a bathing suit and hopefully spend some time by the pool.
It has been a while since I’ve worn them, so I got out my bathing suits and decided to try them on. Good thing I did! My clothes still fit, so I don’t think I’ve put on a lot of weight. Even so, I couldn’t picture myself wearing those suits in public. They just felt way too small and oh so revealing!
After browsing bathing suits on Amazon, I decided to head to Walmart to see what I could find. It’s the right time of year, so they had quite a large selection. I tried on a few and it was a humbling experience. Too tight. Too low cut. Bottoms too skimpy. UGH!
I did end up finding a suit that I feel comfortable wearing. It has a nice flowing, tankini-style top, and loose-fitting lined shorts. It will do!
And I hope I won’t need to go bathing suit shopping again for a long time!
As an aside, I seriously considered buying men’s swim shorts because they have pockets! Why are men’s clothes so much more practical than women’s? Now that’s a topic for another post.
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Three highlights of the week
It’s important to celebrate big milestones and simple pleasures in life. Keeping the trend going, here are three highlights and simple pleasures of the week gone by:
- My sister arrived from England (via Florida) on Sunday. I went to visit her at my Mum’s on Wednesday and Friday.
- My daughter Colleen arrived home from Prince Edward Island on Wednesday evening. It’s good to have her home for a few days.
- My new laptop arrived this week. I had it set up and running within an hour. The cloud certainly makes it easier to set up a new computer. And I love that the new laptop doesn’t take 10 minutes to wake up in the morning!
Three things I learned this week
Life is all about learning. Here are three things I learned this week:
Major Canadian grocery retailers to pilot reusable container program
When I shop at the supermarket, I’m often dismayed at how difficult it is to avoid single-use plastic. I heard this week that three of Canada’s major supermarket chains (Sobeys, Walmart, and Metro) will be piloting a reusable container program in Ottawa, Ontario. (Source: Happy Eco News) Loblaw, our other major national grocery chain, has yet to follow suit.
Let’s hope this catches on!
From endangered to extinct
In 2023, the US government moved 21 species from endangered to extinct. Interestingly, 10 of the 21 species were birds that were primarily found in Hawaii. (Source: Earth 911)
Violence against women in Canada
Friday was International Women’s Day. Last year I was dismayed when my daughter told me her male co-workers said, “When is International Men’s Day?”
We’ve made progress in the fight for gender equality in Canada, but we still have a lot of work to do. I could talk about the gender pay gap. Instead, I’ll provide one revealing statistic. One woman or girl is violently killed every 48 hours in Canada, primarily by men. (Source: Canadian Women’s Foundation)
This week’s decluttering challenge – Desktop clutter
In 2024, I’ve been revisiting the 52-Week Decluttering Challenge I completed in 2021. Tuesday is Organize Your Home Office Day, so this week’s challenge was desktop clutter. It had been a while, so I decluttered 34 items. You can find the details, along with my tips and learnings, in this week’s decluttering post.
If you’d like to join the challenge, visit this post to download your free checklists and jump right in with this week’s task.
I’d love to hear what you think about any of this week’s topics. Drop me a comment below and let me know your thoughts and ideas.
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About bath suits, next time why don’t you buy them in a sports shop? Models are very sober and you will look like a professional swimmer!
Ha ha. It might take more than a bathing suit to make me look like a professional swimmer. 😂 Good idea, though.
Bathing suits…I bought one a few years ago when I weighed about 15 lbs more. I probably should try it on again shouldn’t I 😉 I can think of only 3 swimsuits that I really loved- a bright yellow bikini with an amazing halter type top when I was a teen; a blue patterned one piece with a sweetheart type top and halter straps again, and a tank I had in Hawaii- bright white and red flower pattern. I wore that one swimming with dolphins. Maybe it’s the memories I really enjoy more than how the suits looked? I do know I felt good in them though 🙂
That’s such an interesting point, Deb. When we have great memories of something that happened while wearing something, we’ll always think fondly of that item.
Cheers to you for finding a cute suit – and get to the pool, girl! Enjoy your trip! 😎
Thanks Vicki! 🤗
Ooooh finally getting a new computer is the best and haha yes, its amazing when it doesn’t take 10 minutes for it to wake up. Such a luxury!
Thanks Nikki. I knew the old computer was bad, but didn’t realize just how bad until I got a new one!
Ugh….bathing suit shopping is the worst!!! Love the print on the one you picked out. It’s beautiful.
Yes, it’s a humbling experience for sure. Thank you for reading.
Reusable containers are the future. Enjoy your trip.
Thanks Jamie. I agree with you and I’m happy to see reusable containers become more mainstream.
I feel the same as you do about bathing šuits and it’s funny, all the women my age here at the RV resort wear suits like the one you found! I was recently gifted two tops and one matching bottom and I was so shocked that they fit me. I’m a thrift girl, so I really appreciated getting new ones without having to shop for them myself!
Why do Canadians call their moms mum? Doesn’t that hail from England?
It’s awful how many women (and indigenous people I heard) are killed there daily. Why don’t they crack down on that? Beef up security? Curious.
Most Canadians say “mom”, but I was born in England so my Mum will always be mum to me. Interestingly my mother-in-law, who is several generations Canadian, says “mum” too, although that’s rare.
Sadly, the Canadian statistics on violence against women aren’t unique. The US stats are equally shocking. As for Indigenous women, that sadly speaks to the systemic discrimination against Indigenous people in our Canadian justice system.
It’s all just so heartbreaking and you feel powerless to do anything about it.
Yes, it is so sad. I often worry about my daughters.
I bet you do!