. They want you to use their installers. . Whether the big island will fit depends on the layout around the island. I don't have an opinion one way or the other on the size of the island.

LOL! Our countertop is really bad. We have a U shape with countertops rounding each corner. We had to do a TON of sanding and even had to cut away part of the wall to get the countertop in. We will never install our own countertop again. :lol: I would have loved granite, but I wasn't willing to spend the thousands of dollars it would have cost. I learned a lot as a designer by remodeling 2 kitchens.

In a perfect world they could make the counter tops according to the design. Unfortunately, the cabinets are rarely installed exactly as expected. There are often slight adjustments that have to be made and 1/8" can make the difference in a range fitting or not. Granite, Corian and Silestone installers will all come out and make a template of the cabinets to make sure they cut the countertop to fit.

Depending on the space you have, you might be able to stick build a pantry and finish the outside & door to match your cabinetry. Many cabinet companies will sell a cabinet front only to fit on your stick built pantry. The first thing you need to figure out is how much you can afford or want to spend on the kitchen. That was often one of the first questions I would ask because many people were not basing their expectations on reality. You need to know If I were you, I would find a local cabinet shop that works with builders as well as homeowners. They should have several price levels of cabinetry with varying amounts of customizations available. They should be able to design, order, coordinate installer, and deal with any issues there might be. I would think, based on your life, this would work better than trying to coordinate with a person at a Lowe's or Home Depot. (Their schedules are often different every week and have to fit you in between walking someone to plumbing and paint.)

When I worked at Home Depot we would ask people to bring in their dimensions and we would do a design for them. We had a little pamphlet that had graph paper in it and specified what measurements to take. I would then meet with the customers, ask a ton of questions and schedule and appointment for them to come back and look at a design or two. It would take me a few days to a week to be able to get the design done. I would suggest finding pictures in magazines that show something that you would like for your kitchen. I suggested tearing pics out of magazines and attaching a post-it note of what it is that you like. (Wall color, open feeling, the island, the backsplash...etc.) Also, I'm not sure if anyone still has the linear foot pricing on the back of the cabinet display doors anymore, but I could give a pretty good estimate based on that price. If you want a basic kitchen with no fancy drawers or a pantry, you take that linear foot price x your number of linear feet of cabinetry x 2. If you are wanting upgraded drawer glides (highly suggested) and a few extras then you will take that linear foot price x your linear feet x 2.5 to 3. Pantry cabinets are typically very pricy. $700-$1000 is what comes to mind. ETA: I would definitely shop around to find someone that you are comfortable with. Pricing can vary widely from place to place as well. I think you need to find someone that can do all the coordinating for you - sell you the cabinets and manage the contractor doing the install. You definitely don't want to manage this yourself. ETA: There are pros and cons to both real wood and particle board construction.

I'm in the same boat. I think I'm going to end up getting a Vitamix or Blendtec blender eventually. I'm not sure whether to get a juicer or not. I know we'd use it for a while, but not enough to make it worth a huge investment. Or will we? Anyway, I am looking forward to the responses you get.

It is a very overwhelming project. We have redone 2 kitchens and I used to be a kitchen designer. Yes, the house is torn apart for several weeks between demo, install of cabinets, and the install of counter tops. (Typically the counter tops aren't manufactured until the cabinets are installed. The manufacturing time of the counter tops will vary based on the material you use.) It is SO worth it though! I has completely changed the feel of both our homes. I would suggest finding a designer who asks you ALL kinds of questions. I started as a designer at Home Depot and know that many designers don't ask enough questions. The more questions they ask the better they can design the kitchen to fit your needs. The nice thing about Home Depot is that you can have them handle everything. You also pay a premium for this, but it alleviates some headaches for you. Don't feel bad to ask your designer to give you several different designs to see which layout you feel works best for your family. I would bet that you could fit in everything you want, but you might not like the way it feels. Seeing the different options helps you get a better sense of what it truly important to you. ETA: Are you looking at a specific brand of cabinetry at Home Depot?

:grouphug: I don't have advice. My kids are the same way. Part of me is really glad that DD can go to her room and entertain herself with her Barbies when DS is having a fit. I just wish that she would take her school work with her and at least do some of it while I'm occupied. Ugh! She is so much more frustrating than DS though. He is loud so I know he's not being productive. She is quiet so it's seems like she's being sneaky.

I have tons of stuff too. We ran across all of it the other night while doing some decluttering. I never even finished DS's baby book. DS looked at what I had done of his book and he LOVED it. I decided right then and there that I need to finish. I have determined that I actually prefer a very basic textured paper as the background with a different tone as a simple mat under the photos. I use a little embellishment with the journaling or the page title. That's it. I will be selling all the 12x12 paper trays, the bright color embellishments and the loud paper.

We had a breeder who recommended 2 puppies. She said that they tend to take out there excess energy playing with each other instead of being destructive. We only got 1 so I can't tell you if it was true. We do currently have 2 dogs but they weren't puppies at the same time. We will never get puppies again.

Sorry, I missed that part. ;) Oh, I might write a nice little letter to DH. I would let him know exactly how much I appreciated the day to myself. I would also hope this would encourage it to happen again in the future.

I have done Ripped in 30 once. We own Jillian's 30 Day Shred and we use it all the time. Jilliaan's videos are hard and you cannot expect to be able to do everything until you've been working out for quite some time. That said, I really like Jillian's style. Everything that is done is achieving multiple things. I shudder to think how hard the thighs and buns video is. :confused: I always fall apart on the thigh exercises. ;) ETA I really like that the 30 Day Shred is about 20 minutes and you feel like you've accomplished a lot in that time.

Exercise? I prefer working out when no one is around. Netflix has exercise videos. Definitely read! Organize something. (I recently did my underwear drawer and it makes me happy every morning. Crank up the radio and do housework to the music you love. (I did this yesterday when the kids were gone. It was nice to have a clean house when they came home.)

I would not have approached either the child or the parent. I would have a conversation with my child afterwards to see how she felt about it. I would then tell her, if it bothered her, that she could politely tell the other child what she prefers to be called.

There is a free Lite version of the app so you can try it out for a couple of weeks to see if you like it.

We have my children ask before getting something to eat. They may ask for something specific and I tell them they may have it if they are still hungry after having a fruit or veggie. Actually, we just told them that they do NOT have to ask if they can have an apple. They are welcome to them at any time.

I'm 34 and did gymnastics as a child. I did a cartwheel last year and pulled a groin. OUCH! Not a good idea unless you really commit to stretching and becoming more flexible first.

Yeah, I think we'll go back to the Dr. tomorrow and see about discontinuing the antibiotics if the tests for infections come back negative. Glad to hear your youngest is feeling better!

Good point!

They may have sent the strep test off along with the urine analysis. I'm not sure. We had discussed the mono test, but I think we decided not to since there's nothing to be done for it. I tend to not be overly concerned, but DH and MIL make me feel guilty about it. ;)

Her throat is slightly sore. That is normal for her with strep. Last time she had strep she never even complained of a sore throat. I was thinking viral too, but would expect some other symptoms. Of course, maybe they will show up later. Hmm...

Thanks, I will be taking her back in tomorrow since the fever hasn't relented. Do you think it is worthy of an Urgent Care visit today?

Help! DD11 has had a fever since Thursday morning. It is normally around 101 or 102 unmedicated. It got as high as 104.5. She has no other symptoms. We went to the Dr. because I noticed her throat looked like strep. The strep test was negative and the blood tests didn't show anything concerning. The Dr. did mention the blood test showed a "slight shift left". (I have no idea what that means and I should have asked.) The Dr. felt strongly that it was either strep in the making or a UTI. After our extended stay at the Dr. office she ended up giving us a prescription for an antibiotic strong enough to treat a UTI if that was what the tests came back showing. DD has now had 2 full days of antibiotics and the fever is still present with no other symptoms. I was slightly concerned about a tick bite since we went camping last weekend but don't see any indication on DD. (At least not where she will let me check. :glare:) The only other thing that might be of note is that she had mono back in August. Any ideas what this might be? Could it be viral without any other symptoms?

The sink wall: I would do a base corner cabinet in both corners. I would get them with rotating wood shelves w/out the pole in the middle. I use mine to hold my mixer, bigger baking dishes and some pans (Alternately, you could do a blind corner cabinet but you lose some functionality.) You probably will use a 36" sink base, a 24" Dishwasher and that will leave you will approx 9" for a cabinet. I have a 9" wide cabinet for my cookie sheets, cooling racks and cutting boards. I have a tiny drawer on top that I use for my Keurig k-cups. The stove wall: On the right end you will have part of your corner cabinet from the sink wall. I would take out the pantry if you're not attached to it. I would put in a stack of drawers no less than 18" wide on the left side of the stove. (I'm not sure how much room that leaves you on the wall since I don't have the dimensions of the pantry.) I would try to get another cabinet between the stove and the corner cabinet on the right. I always try to get the wall cabinet doors, on either side of the range, to open away from the range. This makes it easy to open the cabinet quickly to grab something you need while standing at the range. I'm not sure if this is helpful or even makes sense.

LOL :lol: