Ok, looks like I'll have to try a few different ones.
So some of you use multiple programs routinely for different parts of the same drawing? Interesting....
Much of what I'm trying to do is pretty simple as far as the shapes go, and I'm not especially picky right now about the smoothness of curves etc.
complicating things is learning the new stuff during the toddlers naptime.
Ease of use is a tough one, so far the stuff I've done is.
sketchup - Easy to learn, hard to understand why it does some of the odd stuff it does. And odd in what it can and can't do.
snap draft - really easy to use, but not 3-D. I did a lot of my stuff in isometric view which is similar. very simple menu choices and easy direct entry of sizes, and with creative use of some features certain things were very quick. Frame for a smallish house took < 30 minutes and it generated the materials and cut list.
Cadds4 - Not really easy to use, more like writing a program to draw a picture. The simulator was MATC cad, it had a function for drawing elipses, which oddly sketchup doesn't have. Using the digitizer pad wasn't really accurate, but the coordinates could be entered directly - like " ins line x3.125y0z0 to x3.75y2z3" (Not sure I got the syntax exactly right, but it has been 25+ years)
Thanks for all the input. with the time constraints I have it's good to get input from someone at the other end of the learning curve. The first time I had more time to learn, but it was pretty much new to everyone.
Steve