The color and the swingy hem would be stunning on you.

Thanks! Yes, it's very tempting. [bookmarks] I may see about getting either cash or a gift certificate from my folks for my birthday, and blow it all on clothes. 'Cause I'm liking a fair bit of what I'm seeing this season.

I thought wearing black to a wedding was "not done".

I don't know. For my social circle, it's (obviously) not an issue. I've been to a couple of more 'normal' weddings recently, and there were a fair number of women wearing black.

I wore black to the last wedding I was at, but I wore it with a bright scarf just in case. (Since some people do still have Issues with black at weddings, and I'd never met the groom's family.)

K-Bug has ta GORGEOUS green halter top dress and C has a blush pink with black mesh overlay dress. My mom has a black skirt with a fancy white blouse. I'm the only one with nothing so far.

I'm just enough old-school Southerner that I don't feel comfortable wearing black to weddings, but it's a rule that's fallen by the wayside that I observe anyway just 'cuz.

That said, at several of the weddings I've coordinated lately, I've seen guests dressed super-casually--women in khakis, men in jeans, etc.--and that does kinda bug me. Granted, I wear khakis to coordinate, but I'm doing things like getting down on my hands and knees to pin the aisle runner in place. But as a guest, I figure if the bride is in floor-length satin, I can show enough respect for the formality of the event to put up with a few hours in a dress and hose.

Oh, Gris, when she gets settled again, -t converted to Judaism before her marriage, and it was at least part of the catalyst. I think they might be either Conservative or Reform, but she might prove a resource or sounding board for you.

Oh, that's great. I'll definitely be on the lookout.

Talking to a Rabbi or a series of Rabbis is the only way you're going to find the answers to these questions

Oh, I know. And if my interest stays piqued, this will happen. And thanks for the link, I'm bookmarking it for later exploration.

However, I think any Orthodox rabbi is going to expect you to obey the laws of kashrut and of "family purity"

These don't bother me nearly as much. I mean, the "family purity" is a bit weird but I can live with it, or at least acknowledge understanding of the rule, whether I follow it or not. I wouldn't be tempted to protest it as a policy to the Rabbi, because it doesn't ping my "grrrrrr" chord. And kashrut, I'm perfectly fine with - dietary restrictions make sense to me as a religious exercise, even if the why of what's restricted is never explained, really.

Leave my child alone

WTF? That's fucking psycho.

ETA: Not "leave my child alone," the policy that made it necessary. Is psycho. Obviously.

PRINCESS ARMY!

Have you read The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson?

FAKE ETA: OMG X-post. Okay, not actually, but I mearaed the above bit BEFORE reading Calli's post.

Good luck Susan!

dietary restrictions make sense to me as a religious exercise, even if the why of what's restricted is never explained, really.

The joke my grandmother loves on that subject goes like this:

G: And remember Moses, in the laws of keeping Kosher, never cook a calf in its mother's milk.

Moses: Ohhhhhh! So you are saying we should never eat milk and meat together.

G: No, what I'm saying is, never cook a calf in its mother's milk.

Moses: Oh, Lord forgive my ignorance! What you are really saying is we should wait six hours after eating meat to eat milk so the two are not in our stomachs.

G: No, Moses, what I'm saying is, don't cook a calf in its mother's milk!!!

Moses: Oh, Lord! Please don't strike me down for my stupidity! What you mean is we should have a separate set of dishes for milk and a separate set for meat and if we make a mistake we have to bury that dish outside....

G: Ah, do whatever you want....

Ha! Good joke.

I'm fairly new to Freecycle and I have an etiquette question.

Someone offered a monitor yesterday and I sent an email saying I'd take it about 5 mins after the message posted. I haven't heard back and there hasn't been a post saying it's been taken. Is it pushy to send an email and ask if someone has already claimed it?

I don't think it's pushy, askye -- it may very well have been taken already (when I've put up offers, I've been pretty well swamped within minutes), but it's reasonable to expect either a "taken" post or an individual response.