[What kit would you recommend?]

aurdrino

[ESD mats portable set for safe soldering - solution]

You went WAY too far, if you do not have a mat work on a wood surface

[What kind of sensor can be used with Arduino]

ANY

[New electronics hobbyist looking for good projects to start on!]

Hi,

Stay away from High Voltage circuits until you have mastered the basics. Forrest Mims has written several great little books on electronics just for Radio Shack  get them and start there, Good Luck

[Help with a simple question about resitors]

Hi,
Resistors affect BOTH current and voltage. Do not over think this, Ohm's law is the key. E = I x R
with this basic equation you can't go wrong. In series the voltage drop is different for each value of resistance with current remaining constant. In parallel the voltage is tha same to all branches but the current varies. hope this helps.