My grandfather, grandmother and aunt are buried at Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier California. I always enjoy going there. They are buried right under a large tree at the top of a hill so sitting is very peaceful,the wind comes up the hill and is very cool. The highlight of the trip there is of course the rose gardens, they are so beautiful. I really enjoy going there, the best time to go is in april when everything is in bloom. I have also visted the beautiful Mausoleum of Christian Heritage at Forest Lawn Memorial in Covina Hills, which if you are familiar with this area of southern california it is not to far from Rose Hills. They also have some of the world's greatest religious art and the Mausoleum of Christian Heritage to view mosaic recreations of the greatest scenes from Michelangelo's immortal Sistine Chapel ceiling paintings and beautifully crafted stained glass windows. The front of the mausoleum has a beautiful mosaic it is the world's largest religious mosaic, the Life of Christ Mosaic, so visiting cemeteries is not a morbid thing at all, I think. Carrie

Thanks, everyone, for sharing your similar stories. Baligirl, I agree that it feels somehow "wrong" to be worried about all of these silly details. A friend of mine just returned from a mission trip to Haiti. Her pictures certainly put all of these ultimately meaningless little decisions into perspective. Nontheless, we started down this road, we're in the middle of the project and so we must continue. Here's an update. The cabinets arrived yesterday and are all in place, although the trim and a few tweaks and adjustments need to be completed. They're coming back Thursday to finish because they need to remake a beadboard section that they had measured incorrectly. Yes, the cabinets are darker and redder than I would have selected, but they really are beautiful. They are SUCH an upgrade over our previous cabinets. The drawers don't make an awful creaking sound when you pull them out! The doors and drawers close softly; there's more storage; the wood finish is beautiful; the magic corner (which I think we're going to refer to as "the contraption") looks wonderful. I love how the glass inserts above the hutch area look. I guess you could say I'm feeling more optimistic about this whole thing. Jillsee, how is your install going? Did I see on another post that you're in PA? We are too. My kitchen floor isn't hardwood like yours, but it sounds like our cabinet choices are similar. There is hardwood adjacent to our kitchen--that's what you see in the photo. Our kitchen floor is currently plywood subfloor. I still haven't selected the flooring for the kitchen. I had a whole other thread about that subject. At this point, we're leaning toward Duraceramic Tile or Marmoleum Click. Since we were so close to getting the cabinets I decided to wait and see the samples with the cabinets before making the final choice. Either choice doesn't need to go under the cabinets anyway.

Don't forget to journal your photos also. Just pictures don't always tell the complete story. Do you need a family calendar on each page? or just at the beginning? homemade items from the children are always a special touch

If any permits are pulled for your Project, you may need one or more inspections. Note also that if you do need inspections, Code changes from time to time and you may or may not meet current Code with your "new" kitchen. For example, if you have a range next to a doorway with no space (for safety) b/w it and the doorway, you may have to change that since Code in most places now says that you must have a certain amount of space b/w the range & doorway. (That "certain amount" may vary from municipality to municipality.) As another example, all kitchen outlets must now be on a GFI circuit of some sort (either all outlets GFI or the one at the "beginning" of the circuit must be a GFI.) All kitchen outlets must also be "tamper resistant". No, I don't know all the details of any of these, but they are examples to show you things you may run into. If you have not yet received all your cabinets & appliances, then you have no guarantee they will be on time...any delays there may delay your Project. Expect the unexpected! It's a rare remodel that doesn't encounter at least one "surprise"...that's why you should always include in your budget a line item equal to 10% to 15% of your overall remodel cost...it's those "surprises" that are often "budget busters" and/or "schedule breakers"! Good luck!