Since you are planning your sink, I want to share my review of my new sink setup. I love my tapmaster, although I think it really only makes sense if you also have another hot/cold water faucet either at a different sink or as a hot/cold drinking water faucet at the same, which -- the latter -- we have and love. I cannot imagine reaching down below the sink to get detergent when my hands just touched raw meat. For that reason, I really like our countertop soap dispenser (and the tapmaster). I'm using the built in tilt out to store sponges and brushes. It's very easy to take out for cleaning if needed to. Small volume, but it takes the loose items off the counter. There is plenty of ventilation through the door bumps that the sponges dry out fast. I like it, but you do need to be aware that it limits how forward you can bring your sink; in other words, you need to plan for them. I have a regular sink base and a Blanco sink, and I didn't haven to make any modifications. I know reviews on tapmaster, countertop soap dispenser, and tilt out trays are all mixed. I happen to like all of them.

My daughter got married 3 yrs ago. She had the Wedding Binder. Had notes, receipts, plans, fabric samples, pictures of anything to do with wedding. We shopped in 7 different cities looking for the perfect shade of blue with the look/feel/drape of what she wanted. We finally found it... She was so organized she laid out everything she had purchased, sorted it out, took a digital photos, numbered the tote box, wrote where in the maze of totes it was located, (color coordinated, of course ;) and had those picture pages in her binder. There was every phone number, name of sales clerk,subject, etc. that she had conversations with along the way... Of course the wedding and reception was perfect, and the worst that happened, was my umbrella getting sent home with her MIL. I should only wish that the genes would reverse to me!!! Now that she has her first child, (Audry Olivia- 8 wks old) she has the Building the House Binder. She spent a year designing it, and now has nearly all of the things ready to go into it as soon as the Men People get it ready! Of course when I ran into her in the store a couple weeks ago, the House Binder was right beside her diaper bag. I have a feeling that when she returns to work this week, the Binder will come along also. I hope that Baby is so blessed with the organization that her Mommy has!

We moved out of our house last year for a gut remodel of our kitchen, refinishing of main floor wood floors and replacing upstairs carpeting with wood and painting of walls & trim throughout. We were able to store some things in our attic during this time, but all our furniture was in a storage pod. It was exhausting cleaning this place out. Not the big stuff, but every closet, cabinet and drawer. We had just cleared out my parents' home of 30 yrs. when my Mom passed and set my Dad up in an apartment nearby. So our energy gauge was depleted from the start. We had to do it, though, as I'd been without a working range for 2 yrs. and the refrigerator had begun to fail. I swore I would never, ever buy anything else for the house that wasn't essential. I have always kept a clutter-free home in my living spaces, but my closets and cabinets and attic were where all the overflow stuff lived. Our DS moved overseas 6 yrs. ago so we have most of his accumulated worldly treasures in our attic. And DD has a fair share up there, too, as her little Cape has little storage. Aside from a few indulgences - like new glass pieces for my BD - I've managed to live by the "one thing in/one thing out" rule for the past year. This post is further incentive for me to keep at it ;)

Interesting stories. The age range in my immediate family is 22 years from oldest to youngest. I'm one step up from the youngest. My parents were in their 40's when I was born so I never knew my grandparents and really no one ever much talked about them. There were just a couple of pieces of furniture left from the grandparents and my older sisters each got one. My oldest sister has passed and also her oldest daughter has passed, so my niece has the cool platform rocker that belonged to my Great Aunt Mary. My other sister has a neat horsehair couch that belonged to my grandmother I believe. The things I have, including a number of pieces of furniture, my mom and dad gave me 30 years ago when I bought my first house. It was mostly stuff that was in the basement but includes a couch my uncles made for my grandmother who lived with my mom and dad until she passed. I have that in my living room. I have a few other things, including some jewelry that was my mom's, although she never had anything expensive. She gave me her engagement ring when I was in my 20's. I loved seeing it when she would get it out. She hadn't worn it in many years. When she gave it to me, I wore it all the time. Unfortunately I lost it and it broke my heart. As for genealogy, a cousin did some work she shared in the 70's and I found that again not too long ago though the paper is not in very good shape. I don't have enough interest to do any sleuthing especially since Ancestry costs so much. I did get a few names from my mom and dad when they were getting up there in age. A funny thing that happened...........I was asking about the relatives on my dad's side and my mom suggested I talk to my Uncle Ed, my dad's oldest brother. So my dad and I went over to Uncle Ed's house and sat with him in the dining room. He was at least 90 at the time. So he was telling us about the family and I looked up on the wall and in the big room there were two pictures side by side, very close together. One was of Ronald Reagan. The other was a naked lady!!! Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!! I will never forget that.