I used to be a biller, those kind of codes never get used until after insurance denies or requests more information. That is one of the many reasons our healthcare system is garbage.

I think mental illness treatment is part of the problem in many ways, I read an article once that said that a disproportionate amount of people who had committed heinous crimes had taken mental health medications during their teen years. That's scary because we can't know which problem caused it, the fact that they may have been mentally unstable or the drugs caused damage in their brains, making them less capable of empathy. On addressing mental health, that's clearly not possible until we have a single payer system, which is also highly politicized and unlikely with the current state of affairs.

This isn't exactly on-topic but it's moderately relevant, VERY few military people are well trained on guns. I'm a veteran, I qualified during basic training and never touched another weapon, I forecasted weather. You do not want this weather girl protecting you and yours with a gun. All of the military people I know, pretty much the same thing applies. My husband works on computers, he's shot guns fewer times than I have. I do, however, agree that actual well-trained people should be able to carry, there should be an intense training. Some family members of mine recently went for conceal carry course, one day, no actual gun handling, just legal and safety talk. That's it.

I would guess it's because Chicago isn't an island, drive an hour in just about any direction and you're somewhere else. The UK laws cover the whole country not just London. Hawaii has some pretty strict gun laws and we also have the lowest gun death rate in the country. How you address the issue of guns that already exist in a place is harder than making new laws about future guns, if that makes sense, it's early and my English isn't working right now. :)

Very well said. :grouphug: I'm sorry for your losses.

It feels so hopeless. There is a huge sect of the U.S. that has decided that 40k some odd gun related deaths per year are the price we pay for freedom and if you aren't will to pay it then you hate God and the Constitution. Some guy said it best when he said, "once America decided it was ok to shoot a room full of kindergarteners, the conversation was over". I have zero hope of this problem ever being dealt with in his country. My heart is breaking, yet again, today.

Ugh, I hate it too. The way those click bait "headlines" are worded makes me want scratch my eyes out.

We are at $1250 per month, but that doesn't include all of our toiletries. It does include eating out too for the most part. I'd like to lower ours to $850 after our move. We eat meat pretty much every night, we buy beef in bulk in a cow share, but it's really expensive here in Hawaii. I'm looking forward to mainland food prices. We have 5 people, and buy organic when possible.

This pope has many views that aren't in line with conservative Christianity in the U.S. Calling him satan and anti-Christ is hardly surprising, given our political climate, and his tendency to talk about issues that are often associated with liberals.

All of this, plus turtles, clothes, shoes, and makeup. We are moving soon, and I keep telling everyone I'm going to be "brutal" when dejunking. I'm scared. :)

I doubt anyone will lose their jobs, but I got an error on the last link. I'm not surprised in the least, honestly.

I vote $751-1000 for 2 kids, but that's really just an educated guess, I buy throughout he year and I don't really budget for it, it just kind of goes in my general category.

My best friend is big into adventures, she recently hiked a very iconic hike, but she's never been out of the country. She's skydived, zip lined, hiked, and done all sorts of local adventures. I've traveled and done some of those things but those types of adventures don't hold tons of appeal to me. I've eaten my way through several countries, ridden an overnight train in SE Asia, wandered vineyards in Italy and seen the Sistine chapel and the statue of David. Our priorities are different, and our lives have been different. She grew up very middle class suburbia, I grew up wondering where my next meal was coming from. She's also bought several houses at this point, and I, at 35, am about to buy my first one. My life hasn't been boring, but that's not always been a good thing. I've lived so many places that I can't call any place home and I have no "roots", her home will always be in her home state. I think it's all perspective, the idea of having a true home has always appealed to me, but my nomadic nature will probably never be able to make that happen. Excitement means different things to different people. I hope you get to experience some of the things on your "bucket" list. I believe the first time I heard of the Sistine chapel I was in 6th grade, it always held an appeal to me, with a bit of knowledge that I, as a kid who's mother could barely afford shoes, would never see it. The day I saw it was magical, not because of its beauty, but because it was the first thing I ever put on my "bucket" list, and it happened. It was one of the most incredible experiences of my life.

Depending on what my workout for the day is, I either have coffee first or nothing. It's never bothered me at all. When I have food in my stomach it makes me feel more sluggish.

I voted that I usually enjoy it. Dh helps with the prep and the kids do the clean up, I meal plan and then prepare. I cook 5-6 nights a week, and never do breakfast or lunch though I'm trying to start doing them a couple times a week. We'll see how that goes. I do enjoy it more when I have a kitchen I like. I hate the kitchen in our current house, it's cramped and hard to maneuver. We are moving soon and I have no intention having a tiny kitchen again.

One out of three sounds insane to me. I don't think I know anyone like that. Sometimes are better than others but we pretty much never eat out more than a couple times a week. I don't really cook breakfast or lunch though, we have stuff on hand that the kids can make, sandwiches, soup, hot dogs, quesadillas, leftovers, cereal, sausage, oatmeal, etc. then I make dinner about 5-6 times a week. I can't imagine eating out that much, I'm prone to being overweight, so I count calories, I don't even want to think about what would happen to my weight if I did that.

I don't think I've seen this, thank goodness. Yuck.

My husband took off a month last April while we vacationed in SE Asia and then he took a little over a week off in August for my birthday and a small trip to Kauai. He can't work from home in any capacity, so he's very much "off" when he's at home or on leave. He also can't talk about work in any capacity, so it's actually kind of weird, I have almost no idea about his life outside of our home. He's very good about taking time off though, we highly prioritize family time and togetherness, and his pay isn't affected by time off, so that helps.

Nature Republic is a Korean beauty brand and they have some great ones, but you might have to live in an area with a large Asian population to find it. They are soft and silky and come in a few different colors, no shimmer and no scent.

I've been eyeing this program, do you think it would be good for someone who is already very fit but who wants to clean up her diet and change up her workout a little bit?

I wore custom low top converse to my wedding reception, I loved them. I've had multiple surgeries on both feet, so shoes are a big issue for me, but I can handle heels for fairly short periods.

I have two associates degrees, one in meteorology and one in military education. I'm currently working on a bachelors in sociology, but I technically have enough college credits for about a masters, I've just changed majors more than a couple times.

I love it! Menu planning is the bane of my existence, maybe I'll have to take a page from your book. :laugh:

I'm not generally one to wear something twice if pictures will be taken in it, so for anyone who's not into paying for expensive dresses to wear once, you might look into rent the runway. I did that this time and had a great experience and got to wear a dress I would never be able to afford ($1300) for less than 10% of that. None of the squadrons dh or I have belonged to do dining-ins. Hopefully that'll change this next move, I'd love to go to one. Our last Christmas party was a masquerade ball and picking a dress for that was really fun, I went very gothic with it. :)

My feet still hurt this evening after last night and I even danced shoeless (classy gal that I am). :)