Gina, My heart goes out to you. I hope you find some comfort in knowing that I have been in the exact same place as you before and it will not last forever. You'll have moments where you feel the world will go on turning and you'll stop and realize that you were just laughing and enjoying life. What everyone else has written is right, you should try to reach out to people around you but I do understand that that may be hard to do with other 17 year olds. You have already started by reaching out on this blog and I hope you feel listened to and supported by me. I lost my dad when I was 10 and I just recently lost my mom. I know that it aches and it hurts and it feels there is no way to fill the hole in your chest. But just cry, write, talk, and feel it. I promise it will start to get easier, it will just take time. Try to find a good outlet for your feelings, this may be one of them (running has helped me a lot, drinking or numbing out in other ways does not). My thoughts are with you. I'm lending you strength from afar. Post again if you'd like to keep a conversation going. ((((((((hugs)))))))))

Been doing a bit of thinking (and working) so haven't really had a chance to post. Davidro: Thanks again for the suggestion, but I'm not into the Silgranit or the drainage area. As far as I'm concerned, taking away counter space is a bad thing. As for the other things, I stood int he future stove area and there was plenty of space behind me for others to get by. I don't think thats an issue. Measured the fridge and will need to incorporate the dimensions into the layout. They're pretty close as they are now, probably a 1/4" here and there off. Opening my fridge to 90 degrees gives me access to pretty much everything easily. If I need to take drawers out (which I do like once a year now) I can either pull the fridge out or just remove some of the door storage shelves (they pop in and out easily). So, where I have it now is pretty good in terms of placement. I'm thinking of getting a 36" wide vent hood instead of the 30". i've been doing more reading and it seems like everyone is going 6" wider than the range/cooktop, especially with gas. Also, I'm thinking in the future, when this stove dies (hpefully not for a while) we'll get something a bit more high performance, but still 30" wide. Anyways, in order to get a 36" hood in, I need to switch the 24" cabinet to the left of the stove in the layout above to a 30" which is better for pots too. The cabinet on the left side of the stove will stay at 18". I'll have to rip my door trim down a bit, but oh well, can't have it all I suppose. So, I'll try to get my plan updated a bit although there aren't any huge changes at the moment. Still thinking about microwave placement. Have to do a rough layout for my laundry room as well. We're moving it from the main floor to the basement and the plumber that is coming to do the kitchen drains is going to do the laundry room rough in as well so need to get that planned out. Bye for now! Thanks! Dan

Thought I'd post some photos of coloured foliage in the garden. I've left out Crotons, Gingers, Caladiums, Cordylines and Dracaenas to keep the numbers down.

I believe you posted in the African Violets group by mistake. These are Amaryllis varieties. Beautiful plants, but you might receive a better answer to your question if posted there.