That reminds me of what my FIL did. He was very sick from cancer and knew he wasn't going to last too much longer. He sent a e-mail to my husband that was set up to be sent at a later date, after his death, by about 7 months. He asked that we keep in touch with his wife, stepmother. My husbands mother died when he was about 21 and he remarried 5 years later to this women, she had two grown children also. The stepmother was really hard to get along with. Her son put up with her, and was barely on speaking terms with her daughter. Treated my husband very poorly for years, but we tolerated her because Dad loved her. I think she always meant well somewhere deep down inside, but was still rude, arrogant, put downs, was hard to take, but we live 800 miles away so not too much contact...We kept in touch for a few years after dads e-mail but she was still worse than ever and she died 5 years later, the last year we hardly spoke at all....still feel guilty we didn't keep in contact so much. I really think she didn't understand what she did to people, she was a miserable soul, bless her.

twix-Thanks. Those are good suggestions. There is a sale going right now where we would get $4000 off the price and could do 18 month zero interest. He said they come up here and there and we could watch for them. I'll have to ask about putting the measure money down to hold the price for sure! calumin - We don't have a HD close...about an hour or so away. We do have a Menards and I'll probably check there as well. The custom cabinet shop is actually within a mile of my current home, so I will certainly check with them. I need to check around and find an amish cabinet maker. I know there must be some around but I don't have a name yet. debra-Thanks for clarifying. momtofour- I would really love the extra storage for seasonal items. There are so many things that I would love to have but we lack the storage space right now. Nothing practical really, just pretty items for Thanksgiving dinner and such. I definitely need to find out about the trash! That's a great idea for dog food. We don't have a dog but are hoping to get one when we move. :) needinfo- I probably misused the term "warranty". I'm not as worried about the cabinets breaking or being defective as I am about one of our kids tearing something up accidentally. Then we would need a replacement door or something. Dh was just saying that a bigger company that's been around for a while would be more likely to still be around years from now and we would have access to replacement doors. Probably not a big deal but it was a thought we tossed out there since we have utilized that type of thing in our current home with cabinets that are 20 years old. As for the custom look fitting the space. I see what you are saying. I would like to compare apples to apples as much as possible but I agree that if the custom maker can do more of what we need then we should take that into consideration with their price. jakuvall - Thanks for the pic! gladys- For countertops I really like the solid surface type. At least I think I do. LOL Main reason being that the sink and counter are practically seamless so not as much chance for gunk to be places. andreak-Thank you. I'll have to look into the frameless/Euro you mentioned. I'm not sure of the differences. I was thinking about drawer depth as well. I know I need deeper for the pots/pans and the plates/bowls. Otherwise I'm not sure exactly. I'm going to make a copy of the layout and pencil in where I want things. I have done this partially before but I want to get more detailed. I appreciate all this feedback!

We have MBNA credit cards that have been stolen (online) two or three times. Each time, MBNA picked up on it first. They called me at work, cancelled the card, and overnighted us new ones. I didn't have to request anything nor pay for it. Once we were leaving on vacation the next day, and they made sure we had the new cards before we left. We've had accounts with them for eight years now and have no intent to change. On the other side of the coin, DH had a card stolen from 5/3 bank. We didn't even have an account there, so I don't know how someone got a card in his name. The card was opened in 2000, was never used and then stolen in 2006. Someone took it to Brazil and took out $2k of money from an ATM $200 at a time. It took us months to finalize that one - HOURS on the phone with them. They claimed that since we never used the card, they didn't know our spending patterns. DUH! Our spending pattern was that WE DIDN'T USE THE CARD! It was the most frustrating ordeal we've had in a long time. Then, they got all but one transaction erased. Why ONE remained, I don't know. But they charged us late fees on that one, and we had to fight about that too. What a mess. But, MBNA is THE BEST when dealing with card fraud.

Cool, I HAD to get them out.... I defend my dissertation Wed morning and this weekend, I have to make any and all corrections my committee wants. Still have some more hurdles before graduation but I am getting there!