I am trying restricting myself to technical comments. The overhang for seating isn't controlled by the depth of the stools - its how much room needs to exist underneath for peoples knees. A bar height overhang needs 12" clear underneath the overhang(before you get to the pony wall). A counter height overhang is supposed to have 15" clear before the back of the cabinets or wall-let. People cheat this all the time by 2 or three inches. If you try to use less, even kids don't fit. You have omitted the wall that shows next to the ref in the 3-d view of the second drawing when you did the floor plan. A wall takes up to to 3 times the width of a ref panel - allow 5 to 6 inches for the depth of a "real wall" and allow 2-3 inches for a wall with studs turned sideways. Allow 1.5 inches for a ref panel. Most cabinet lines void the warranty if you can't attach both sides... In the second one, really think about including the filler on the garage side of the ref. The ref handles need more space on the sides for the doors to open to 90 degrees. This is true for just about all refs. In an sxs, you pretty want the doors to be able to open to 110 degrees to be able to open the drawers. Since the crowded part would be the freezer in an sxs, you can certainly live with pulling the entire unit forward when you want to clean it. Landing space for an sxs OR a french door is behind the ref. Landing space for a bottom freezer is to the side opposite the hinges. Well, this is on the border between technical and layout. In the second one, push the dishwasher to one edge or the other and consolidate all the cabinet space into the other side. Symmetry OF the cabinets isn't very important here - all three sides are seen and the "inside the kitchen" view of the cabinets won't actually be symmetrical - the sink will never end up in exactly the right place as seen from that vantage and it will look goofy from the other two.

My MIL is in an Assisted Living apartment and one of the things she has enjoyed most is a bird feeder outside her window. Don't know if that would work for your MIL. Some of MIL's most requested items have been gift certificates for the beauty shoppe, nylon nightgowns, Chocolate (just a little), and family photos. We gave her lightweight sweaters and wraps this year because she is always cold. She really likes both.

I like the idea of putting the handheld in the corner or at least somewhat away from the main faucet. Our bathtub is like yours ... sunken and with a black matte granite surround deck. I hate trying to use the pull out as it seems so close to the faucet and it all just gets in the way. Try looking through these photos for ideas. http://www.houzz.com/photos/query/undermount-tub-with-soapstone-deck-photos/ Keep us posted!

Yes normally we would do the hour drive to the closest B&N big town and do some Christmas shopping but just weren't up for it this year. But want to support brick and mortar bookstores so shopped the same store online. Really trying to avoid Amazon . . . I did the "make your own comic" book last year, my grands love activity books but that's what hubs got them. As for kid's books, I bought my 10 yr. old female gd this book: "Vampire Island" by Adele Griffin. It is apparently part of a series. We'll see if she likes it. I got her a repro necklace which was apparently featured in "The Vampire Dairies" (I was just looking for a cool locket necklace). So that got me thinking along the vampire lines as gd likes goth a bit, just like her mom. But I didn't want to rush a ten year old into the "boyfriend girlfriend" vampire genre, she's only in 5th grade, so I picked "Vampire Island" because it is about a whole family of vampires. No reviews yet as to whether she is going to like it. One of the books that didn't come that hubs got for her is "The Girl Who Drank the Moon" by Kelly Barnhill, which is a Newbery Award winner. That sounds great too. For 8 yr. old female gd I got the dvd of Disney's "Thomasina the Cat" which was a favorite of mine at her age. I got the dvd quite a while ago, as the idea came to me early on in the Christmas shopping season. I kind of regret that I didn't get her the book, because it is just about at her reading level, she's advanced, and it got stellar reviews, all his books really. The author is Paul Gallico, and the original source book is "Thomasina the Cat Who Thought She Was a God." He also wrote several other children's books such as "The Snow Goose" which I remember also liking as a kid, a little older. I think I may get same gd some of his other works later . . .