Nancy, Thanks for asking. I'm not open yet! lol We just closed 2 weeks ago.. ran into a few snags and a few more.. so closing on the house was delayed a month. Then we almost didn't close at all because the people left all kinds of stuff and very filthy!! There was even old food left in the fridge.. so we wanted to re-negotiate the price or them clean and those scum bags said forget it then, the deals off.. So we sucked it up and cleaned up their filth. Hard to believe that woman ran a day care there and what's harder to believe is parents actually take their kids to her! Every window and sliding glass door was plastered with sticky ucky finger prints! Took 2 washing to get the windows clean enough to see out of!! And they still need a 3rd!! So far the Sunroom/Plantroom is finished and my friend is working on the mural in there under the wall of windows.. looks real cool. The kitchen is done(when I say done I mean painted.. nothing else, besides clean) We still have to build work stations. Put in shelves display cases and all that good stuff. Had to throw out the stove it was so gross I wouln't even give it away. That's okay I don't need a stove there anyway. The long hall is done... The Office/Kids hang out room is finished and the, what we call, big room has it's first coat of paint... needs a 2nd. 3 of the rooms were a dark dark red/burgundy color! Took 2 coats of primer.. and 2 coats of paint to cover it up(at least in the office & big room.. so I figure the room connected to the kitchen will need that also.... so everything else is primered. Tomm I hit the big room with a 2nd coat and it should be all set. Once the painting is finished, I'm going to have to do something about the wood floors.. sand them buff them, something. Prob. going to be a lil longer than I expected to open.. but that's okay.. I want it to look right for the grand opening. You know the saying.. you never get a 2nd chance to make a first impression. I did take most of yesterday off.. but couldn't sleep last night.. DD was at the prom and then the all night after prom party the school sponsers.. and yes.. I was worried.. so I went down about 2 am for a while.. At least there I wasn't waking the house! lol And I felt less guilty for taking the day off yesterday. Lil T, I took pic's for you, but of course left the camera there... have the DSL stuff at the shop but haven't installed it yet. I'll try and remember to bring it home tomm.. and yes.. I finally fixed my a drive! lol Did that the other day when I bought the computer for the shop.. Bout time eh! lol Well 12 hours at the shop today, along with last night and no sleep... I'm a tired girl! Bed is calling. Hope you all had a great day! Rained here a good portion of the day, but that's okay we needed some. Tally Ho! ~Dusty~

well, bragging might be one word.... :) and yes, he's a trooper and I hope he continues to be as we've got a ways to go together. It's interesting to work with him, I'll say "call me when you get the sample door/drawers done so I can take a look" and then he doesn't call so I call him and he says "well, I've got the doors and drawers done and stained I'm putting the last coat of finish on them today." There have been a few instances like that where I ask something to occur and he agrees and then it's like we never talked at all. I now just roll my eyes and am (luckily for him) so far happy with how everything has turned out. He really does put a nice, smooth finish on the wood. On it goes.

caryscott - the thing is, the main reason I hired him is because I was expecting that type of attention. He told me I would get it. It's sort of a long story, but he's really just "starting out" in the business, having spent most of his working life doing something else and doing this as sort of hobby/past-time. Right up until we hired him, he wasn't really working on multiple jobs at once. Now, all of a sudden, he's too busy and he ends up NOT being at my house for days at a time, leaving unskilled workers there and having them make mistakes, and making mistakes himself - probably because he's rushing!!! And not to sound too nasty, but I really don't care who else he is making happy at this point. He promised me things and is not coming through. I'm a little extra crabby right now because yes, it's 1:30 on Thursday, the granite is coming tomorrow, and he's NOT at my house to make the corrections that need doing before the granite can be installed. My husband thinks he plays golf on Thursdays...I am not a happy camper right now. SQ

@Angela, Yes. If I am correct, you like plan 13H3 better. And you also prefer a microwave over the oven. At this point, I am considering two layouts 13H3 and 18A. Still need to debate the pros and cons of each to see if I can settle on a ‘final’ design. @Lavender Lass, My latest plans (ver17 and ver18) are based on your T-shaped island concept, which has the long side of the island parallel to the right side wall. I am looking at it (18A) along with a previous plan of 13H3. Thank you for your latest two drawings. They are similar to ver13H3 to some degree. I see the main differences being the swapped sink/cooktop, HVAC/pantry locations and larger kitchen window. I would explain my thoughts on them below. @Mrs Pete, Thank you for your continued input. I really appreciate that. You are absolutely right that I am not settled on the kitchen layout yet. There are things that I don’t like or am simply unsure about. On the other hand, I think I am making good progress (from the original two island version) and really hope that either plan might just work OK. Re: HVAC and Cooktop Placement When I met with the architect, he said he preferred to have the HVAC closet in a more centralized location of the house for easier ducting work. I may ask the architect again about this issue but right now I am inclined to leave the HVAC and pantry as they are currently in the plans (pantry close to wall). Similarly, the cooktop close to the top wall may still be doable but that would make the exhaust vent of the range hood more difficult as there is second floor above it (vs cooktop close to side wall ). I am keeping the cooktop / sink locations for now. I would follow up one more time with the architect. Re: Kitchen Windows It is a corner lot with front and west facing streets in the subdivision. The side wall is facing west and we are building in Texas. I don’t think there is any good view to the outside and I have some great concern about summer heat. Therefore, the windows are mainly for natural lighting. The architect proposed to place some small windows over the high cabinets. I really don’t know how that would work and my drawings (with the size and location of the windows) are mainly my best guess. Re: Start over or KD While I am open to the suggestions of starting it over or giving it to a KD, I am not taking that route for reasons including 1) I still like to work with the architect on the overall house design to make it work after I have received some criticisms about the exteriors/roofs and cost. So I am trying to let the floor plan (including kitchen layout) to help the architect a little bit if possible for a functional, pleasing, and cost effective build. 2) The kitchen is one of the most critical parts of the house design but it is still one part of the whole house. If the only thing unresolved is kitchen layout and a KD might be good for me. But I don’t think I am there yet. For some reason, I feel comfortable with floor plans/kitchen layouts reading thanks to many ppl on the GW forums ond my own struggles with the issues for over 5 months. If I decide on a final plan, I think it would not be too bad functionally. Next, I would like to come up with one candidate kitchen plan and integrate it to the whole house floor plans and present it to the architect with my concerns about exteriors and budget. Thanks! JF