neck with center strip through heel and peg head.

It will look fine. However, I would not butt all my fan braces to the transverse brace. You want these back a ways to allow the lower bout to move. Not too late. Just shave em' down and move 'em back....

Thank you, Sequoia. I did look at a picture of your tenor with fan braces some distance off of that cross brace, and I looked at the stewmac template you mentioned in the post under the hood. Interesting that the LMI plan that I am using calls for the fan braces to be tight up against that cross brace. Is it common practice to do this one way or the other? I would go against the plan if I felt that I was on solid ground. I also see that there are three horizontal braces on the stewmac plan. The LMI plan calls for two. Don't have enough experience to know what all that means.

What you are beginning to understand is that push and pull of structural integrity versus the freedom of the instrument to move. Strong enough not to fall apart over time and yet musically active. This is why it is an art and not just an exercise in structural engineering like building furniture. It is a fine line and I think therein lies the heart of good lutherie: Structurally and fundamentally sound and yet light and responsive. It is a balancing act and it can take a life time to figure out. There are no real plans or roadmaps because wood isn't steel and it doesn't behave nor is it predictable. My advice: Build how you think it should be and then see what results. Change until it sounds right to you. Don't let anybody tell you how it should be done. Good luck! PS: I don't know anything about LMI plans, but tying off the fan bracing to the lower top brace just strikes me as icky. Sorry LMI.

Yes, I think you fingered it. My impatience is showing. Somehow I have been of the persuasion that one can learn enough to do it right the first time. But that presumes there is in fact a "right".
I will turn 66 this summer. Probably should have started this about 30 years ago...
So here is what I decided to do having listened to you on the fan braces staying off of the horizontal cross brace. I think I can live with this.
Interestingly enough, if I tap this top I get an F tone with plenty of ring. But I call it "plenty of ring" because this is the only top I've ever tapped. I really am quite clueless.

You know that looks like it would work. I think on a first build it is really all about building the box and attaching the neck that is more important than getting the bracing just right. You can fine tune that later on build #2. On the first one just get an instrument that is gonna hold together and is relatively in-line plumb. Remember we are just building ukuleles here and not concert quality classical guitars. Then immediately start number 2 because you are gonna so not do what you did on number 1. Then start #3 because you are going to so not do what you did on #2. A thus it continues. Good luck!