Mike, you're up WAY too early on a Sunday, LMAO ...
But you're right - once the simple concepts are understood, assembling your own laser becomes relatively simple (other than some of the mechanical concepts, seating the diode, successful soldering, etc) which also can be made easier with a little research here on the forums.
Take a peek at the Pailide kits Mohrenberg is selling here on the "Buy Sell Trade" forum, they're nice looking, solid, and come basically preassembled (all you would need to do is buy a module with preinstalled diode - also available in the BST thread) and solder 2 wires...
Lastly DarkArmy is offering a complete build service for only $10 US and he is developing a good reputation for quality work, he will even assist you in outsourcing the required parts as part of that $10 service - might want to take a peek at that thread too.
Hopefully Mike and I have given you some better direction here, and with any luck (and some searching on the forums) you should have no troubles with your first laser - Good Luck!