Something to wear to that wedding, part 2

Paula reminded me to keep some perspective as I work on this outfit! So yesterday I dug out a Ralph Lauren dress I got at a yard sale last summer (it fits better now that I’ve lost 10 lbs or so) and wore it to a graduation open house as a test run toward wearing it for the wedding this Saturday. The dress is also a silk georgette, fully lined, and actually pretty well constructed.

On the negative side, it has a sort of ditzy print that really isn’t to scale with my body at all. There also doesn’t really seem to be any focus to the dress except maybe the fully buttoned front. Some of the buttonholes need to be shortened a bit as the buttons came unbuttoned whenever I moved very much. It is also shorter than I prefer, showing about 10 inches of my legs above my (not so) lovely shoes. I think the focus part could be remedied with some jewelry or an appropriate colored scarf or the addition of some ribbons or something around the collar and lapels of the dress. And the undergarments necessary aren’t really very comfortable for extended periods of time due to health issues I’ve had the last few years. So…I COULD wear this dress, but I’d prefer to make something new.

I wore a navy long flared and gored washed linen skirt this morning with a natural linen colored camp-shirt-shaped blouse and a colorful scoop necked tshirt underneath. It was SO much more comfortable than the dress mentioned above and so much more in the style I’ve developed over the years. However, even I know that washed linen is really too casual for this evening wedding in the city that’s coming up in 6 days. 😉 I figure I’ve got about 2.5 days to get the skirt and top? done; 15 minute increments each hour at the maximum. Wish me luck! 😀

An off-topic post about my FIL

I promised an excerpt from a letter we received last week from a man who is now the parent of teens. I’m going to add/substitute a few words [within brackets] to make the whole thing clearer to those of you who don’t know the cast of characters:

“It was the summer of 1972 or 1973. [Our local church-sponsored camp] needed the skills and abilities of [my DH and his brother]. This left quite a dilemma for Allan who of course needed his sons for the farm. But, Allan released his sons to work at camp and in return he got a replacement farm hand [incidentally, son of that camp’s director.] In place of his two strong, knowledgeable and hard working boys, he got a skinny, wiry, weak, inexperienced, unskilled, unmotivated, often distracted lazy 16 year old kid. You don’t really have to think at all to realize who got the poor end of that deal!”

“Early on Allan must have been frustrated with the poor help he had, but he never revealed that to me in any form. He continually encouraged me and extended much grace and mercy. Over the summers, and later during three years of full time employment, I learned so many things. I learned how to work hard. I learned to be optimistic in tough situations. I learned that if others say it can’t be done, it probably can be done. I learned that if someone built it, we can modify it and make it better. I learned that chaos or disaster are just preconditions to creativity. I learned that improvising often makes the impossible possible. I learned that honoring God comes first. I learned that others are important. I learned about extravagant giving. I witnessed characteristics of Jesus being lived out. I learned that honoring the Sabbath did not put you behind or diminish your harvest. The list goes on and on. I am certain that my being mentored by Allan was part of God’s intentional plan for my life.”

The writer went on to say that thankfully he was able to share the above with my FIL a few years ago while his mind was still alert and “he thanked me for sharing [the above] with him, and presented me with that famous smile and twinkle in his eye that said “I approve”.”

As I said last week, I’ve only known Allan for the 20 years since I married his son and many of those years were affected by his various medical problems, so this gives me some insight into what he was like before I joined the family. Wouldn’t it be neat if there were people who could say similar things about each of us as they look back at past or present positive influences on their lives?