I'm so glad some of you remember a lot of the things I do. Some of my most cherished memories are when my playmate two doors down (Ellen) and the girl our age (Mary) across the alley would play in a little lean-to playhouse built against the north side of Ellen's garage. They had a huge wooden sandbox. People don't like the tracking and what it takes to fill and maintain sandboxes, but I've got to tell you it was heaven on earth. The sandbox was under a slightly larger pergola. Over the pergola grew Concord grapes. How beautiful it was under the shade of the leaves and when the grapes hung down as we played in that sandbox. Sadly, Ellen whose parents had the sandbox died from cancer a few years back; we had been separated for years as she taught school and moved to Michigan. The other girl, we parted ways after kindergarten, and she went to the Catholic school. We made new friends and lost touch with one another. A few years ago I found her how? The internet but somebody must have given me some clue, didn't even know what her current married name was. I met her when I was 3. She lives in NC and is such a lovely person. I cannot remember the last time I saw her, before I was 10. We correspond regularly and share these precious memories. Right now I have heard that her husband is facing a terrible ordeal with cancer and his pacemaker; her health sounds good. Tears flowed from my eyes when I read that, and I need to answer soon. I didn't have a video camera, but one beautiful fall day, I walked the old neighborhood with my wide angle lens, walked up the middle of my street and back (there were low hills on both ends of that two-block long street), walked back down then around and up the alley we shared, then around and down her street, clicking all the way. I put the photos on a cd and sent them to her. She was so grateful for them. I'd never met her sister who was older and away by the time I met her, but she sent those photos to her sister, too. I'm so glad I did that. This is the same street from about the exact same spot and one of my photos from that day. The older one I took with my brownie Kodak when I was about 8. The second one was Oct 2005. My house was the one on the right that is yellow now (hard to tell the color) with a red roof and the white rails. Ellen's house was the first one on the right you can see, a grey house with red trim and grey roof. There was a small one in between that isn't visible. I presently live about 1/2 mile from there. The oddest thing is that apart from the cars, trees and a few cosmetic changes to the houses, it has changed very little. 55 years then and now.

We love our single 24"x 10" deep sink! But this is a big move up for us. The old sink was a small "D" shaped 21"x8" single bowl. When my dad first saw my old sink he asked where the other bowl was because it looked like half of a double bowl! My DH is 6'4" and I was concerned that the new sink would bother his back, reaching down and into the sink. He sometimes complained about the reach down in the old sink. The grid in the new sink helps. And we usually have it piled with dirty dishes anyway so there isnt a reach reach down! Haha. We like having the full cookie sheet option. And I have a dishpan I can add if I want to split the space to soak anything.

"How many cookies do you people bake?" I use my "cookie sheets" ("sheet pans" to me) very often for following types of activities. (I have three, but have been begging DH to bring home a fourth from work.) -oven roast veggies like parnsips, potatoes, sweet potatoes, turnips, carrots, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, etc. -under a gratin of chard or potatoes, etc. on to prevent a spillover mess in the bottom of the oven -set out a whole fish or fillet for prepping and transport for the grill -bake herb biscuits -oven cook bacon -use with a drying rack on top to store French toast or pancakes in the warming drawer -oven toast a load of crostini for tapenade, semi-soft or triple creme cheese, fava bean spread -oven toast nuts and seeds for snacking, salads, and cooking/baking -oven toast pita for pita chips -kids crafts -cookies!!! (really!!) And many other uses of which I'm too tired to think. I can fit only one sheet pan per DW load and very often have one in the DW and one soaking. **on topic** I love my single bowl. I'm surprised that no one has mentioned the fact that DW get dishes cleaner using less water. Those facts are usually brought up when this issue is discussed. Something about how when DW came into common use, the spread of a common disease decreased dramatically. I use the DW for 99.23% of everything except knives. Anything I handwash gets washed, set on a washcloth next to the sink, dried, and put away. I use commercial quality pots and pans, teflon and no, that go in the DW. I HATE hand washing. Why spend your time standing at the sink when you have a DW installed right next to you? Isn't that why you bought it? I run my full DW at least once a day. *rant off*

Mary04 - in response to your post, as Brickeyee and I wrote above, we believe it is preferable to get a lower gauge. Others may have a different opinion. But I am unclear why you say you had trouble finding a lower-gauge sink to fit in a 30" cabinet. You didn't say whether you were looking for a double bowl or a single bowl. But in just a 2-minute search, I found 16-gauge stainless sinks that fit in a 30" cabinet. There is the Kraus KHU100-30 single-bowl sink, which by previous reports on this forum, is a beautiful sink, price includes grid and strainer, and it has an offset drain which is nice to have (my link below has 41 great reviews). Also, Ticor offers 4 variations of double-bowl sinks that fit in a 30" cabinet. As an aside, I don't know if you are looking at a single or double bowl version, but if I am looking for a sink to fit in a 30" cabinet, I would choose a single bowl sink, so that you have a bowl big enough to set down a roasting pan or cookie sheet. Kraus KHU100-30 16-gauge Single-Bowl Stainless Sink Ticor 16-gauge Double Bowl Sinks (use the search function for 30 inch cabinet size)