Bikini Bods

My sister-in-law is kind enough to feed me my dose of magazines so I can be up on the latest celebrity gossip because, as we all know, we all want to be, look, act, or just know about the famous people in the world. Of course the issue I pick up and read has pages of celebrities in their bikinis. Women of all ages sporting their bodies and rockin' bikinis. They even had an interesting section showing the "ages" of bikinis from celebrities in their 20s to their 60s. As I look at these different body types I start to self-assess. When I HAD a body that COULD have sported a bikini, there is NO WAY I would wear one. The top reason being my culture. As a child, I could run around in a bathing suit and that was okay. Hell, I could run around naked or in my underwear and it was still okay. But as a female, when I got older (around puberty), it was less appropriate to run around with less clothing. Cover up would be the best description. I couldn't even wear shorts to a family function even if the shorts were knee length. I always had to cover up in a lavalava to show respect. So sporting a bikini? OUT of the question. Now that I'm older, wiser, and a little (okay, maybe A LOT) heavier, the idea of this old broad wearing a bikini, in PUBLIC, is unfathomable! Even if I lost weight and tightened up the old ab's, my mind is still under the impression that wearing a bikini at this age is not okay. Much as I would love to flaunt a P90X body in a bikini, I would never do it. I have too much respect for the people around me. And I wouldn't want to scare any children.

Father's Day

Boys, you can break
You'll find out how much they can take
Boys will be strong
And boys soldier on
But boys would be gone without the warmth from
A womans good, good heart

On behalf of every man
Looking out for every girl
You are the guide and the weight of her world

So fathers, be good to your daughters
Daughters will love like you do
Girls become lovers who turn into mothers
So mothers, be good to your daughters too
John Mayer: Daughters

Having all girls, my husband is seriously outnumbered in our household. Even with the emotional outbursts, the stubbornness, the fight for the bathroom, I know he secretly likes being the only male in the house. He doesn't have to fight for attention, he doesn't have to share bath products, deoderant, clothes, etc. He has a house full of females who clean, cook, bake, take out the trash,...

What he DOESN'T have is a companion, a football buddy, a fellow male he can truly bond with, talk sports, take to the basketball games. The girls try, don't get me wrong. They watch football and basketball and try to converse with their dad about their favorite team. But the conversation always ends in arguments because they don't agree on a favorite team, or their dad treats them like they really don't know about the game, or they prefer watching golf. So much for trying...

What do the girls see in their father? They see a man who works hard to support the family. They see him as the person who has the laptop computer with all of the music they need for their iPods. They see him as the musical guru who can download songs for them and who's interested in talking about music with them and their favorite musicians. He's their go-to guy when it comes to the educational areas of science and math. He's the one who praises them when they do well and disciplines them when they don't do so well. Sometimes he feels left out because the girls are always with me but he always dreams of the day when the girls can go to music concerts with him and possibly play alongside their dad in a band. He dreams of keeping his girls safe from harm and all of the bad elements in the world. And, really and truly, he is not only their father, he is their daddy.

What if?

I'm sure we've all played the "What if" game at some point in our lives. When things go wrong, you're feeling depressed, or you're just pondering life's many curveballs, the "What if" theme song begins. As your head is nodding to the music, you drift into the past and float through different scenarios:
What if...
I stayed home and went to college instead of coming straight to the U.S.?
I went to school in Hawai'i instead of California and Arizona?
I officially went out with my biggest crush in high school?
I took a career assessment when I first went to college?
I actually saved some money?

The "What if" game could be endless but as I'm thinking those thoughts the faces of my daughters pop into my head. All of those "What if's" begin to blur and there, in full color, are my girls. No matter how many "What if's" I have going on in my mind, they can never compare to "What is".