Well, my predicament could be worse...

I could be this poor lady- lol. Saw this on MSN.com right after Monday's post and thought it was too funny, considering my current dress dilemma:

Dear Prudence,
My wedding is 59 days away, and I am concerned about my future mother-in-law's dress. She is a wonderful woman who makes me feel accepted as her son's choice for a wife. But with only two months left before the wedding, she had finally begun her search for a dress. Last Sunday, my mother-in-law held my bridal shower at her house. My mother told me that while she was there, she saw a photo of the dress my mother-in-law picked out. She described it as "young, low-cut, and flowing." I wanted to get to the bottom of this, as my mother-in-law had not even informed me that she had purchased anything. So, after the party, I sent her an e-mail, and she sent me a picture of the dress. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. My 51-year-old mother-in-law has picked out a dress with a wispy skirt, a V-neck, and spaghetti straps. It's fit and styled for someone my age—25! And it's robin's egg blue—which doesn't even go with my champagne-colored dress, the bridesmaids' sage green, the chocolate brown tuxes, and my mother's pale pink dress. I can't swallow the fact that she would attempt such a daring wardrobe choice on a day so important to me and her son. This dress has been ordered and is not set to arrive until two weeks before our wedding! I really need advice on how to tell her that I do not feel it is appropriate to wear.

—Frustrated Bride

Dear Frustrated,
The nerve of this 51-year-old woman to decide she's just going to march off and buy a dress that she finds flattering without asking permission of a 25-year-old. Sure, she has welcomed you into her family and thrown a shower for you. But now she has really shown her true colors—robin's egg blue, to be exact—by pulling this spaghetti-strap stunt. This V-neck desecration has to be stopped! You simply must tell her the hard truth. Something along the lines of, "Hey, you old hag, no one wants to see your saggy flesh. Your choice of color is an outrage. And, in case you've forgotten, in 59 days it's going to be my day, my day, my day, my day."

—Prudie

Want to know what's really funny? If I'm doing the math correctly, my son's wedding is 59 days away!! HA! How crazy is that?

I've heard from several people on the dress topic and I soooo appreciate your encouragement, support and advice. A couple people I know have some seriously strong opinions about it! However, regarding suggestions that I should do whatever I want, "stick to my guns," keep my dress and wear it anyway (which seems to be a common refrain), there is one major factor that I can't ignore... My son. He's a great guy- a very genuine, kind person. Although I'm his stepmom, he's gone above and beyond to treat me like his mom and make me feel that I'm in "equal standing." He always has. I'm just his mom, if that makes sense. He treats me with nothing but love and respect. I'm not about to do anything to stir up trouble or drag him into the middle of some Big Icky Thing and make him deal with all this stupid crap. Especially not right before his wedding. And especially not over some lousy dress. Ultimately, any stress I create for the bride is going to rub off on him, I'm sure. Why would I do that over a dress? My personal feelings about how the situation has been handled, or even my intense love for the dress and shoes, are nothing compared to my feelings for him. He's way more important than a dress to me.

About the suggestion to take my future DIL shopping with me- there was already a shopping trip for all the mothers last month and I was invited. It was my choice not to go. I felt it may be an awkward, uncomfortable day for all involved (the bride, her mother, my son's mother- the first wife, and me- the second wife). My son kept encouraging me to come, and I almost did, but decided it may not be the best idea. I could have gone along and probably found something that day that would have met with DIL's approval, as the other two mothers did, but I didn't- so that's my own fault.

Anyway... it's just clothes. It will all work out. The wedding day will soon be here and gone and no one there will ever remember a year from now what I was wearing... Unless of course, it's a short, robin's egg blue, spaghetti-strapped, sexy little number. Hmmm. Something to think about, huh? Maybe those suggestions to do as I please and wear what I want are absolutely right!

Wait! I'm suddenly seeing a bright red, bedazzled, one-shoulder, mini-dress in my very near future!!

I could also decide to go in something like this, in honor of my son's love of hunting:

Possibly something with a jaunty, little hat...Or, how about this one? Who needs some plain, boring champagne dress? My bases would certainly be covered, as far as trying to match any and all colors in the wedding, and I wouldn't have to worry about my white legs being seen.
I could even get a sudden burst of creative energy and pull a Molly Ringwald (and if you don't understand this reference, rent the movie "Pretty in Pink")...

Or maybe, I'll just wake up on the morning of the wedding feeling especially sexy...You never know. It could happen.

The more I think about it- I'm starting to feel totally excited about this! The ideas are really flowing now and the possibilities are endless! I'll let you know what I come up with after the next big shopping fiasco trip. I'm sure you're all on the edge of your seats! Are you even able to think of anything else during your day?

Thanks for the kind words and support!