I'm passionate about Brother lasers because before I bought my first laser, I was spending $50 or so a MONTH on ink. I bought a multi-function b/w Brother laser in 2010 for $300, and in 6 years, I've bought 4 refills for about $70. I love it so much I just bought a new color multi-function (think it was $400) and while I don't love the new one (it's slower than my old one, and the scanner is smaller), the print quality is amazing, and I anticipate similar savings in the coming years. (My old bw still works just fine, but my youngest is 6 and I wanted to be able to print his schoolwork in color if needed)

Shoot, no. This one on Amazon is $90 new and IS wireless (and duplex). For Brother printers, you'll want to look for a W in the model number for wireless and a D if you want duplex (saves me a tons of $$ having duplex!) https://www.amazon.com/Brother-HL-L2340DW-Monochrome-Wireless-Replenishment/dp/B00LZS5EEI This one is wireless, duplex, and has a scanner for $90: https://www.amazon.com/Brother-DCPL2540DW-Wireless-Compact-Replenishment/dp/B00MFG57ZK/ref=sr_1_2?s=office-electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1472185441&sr=1-2&refinements=p_n_feature_six_browse-bin%3A5662335011%2Cp_n_feature_four_browse-bin%3A5928098011%2Cp_89%3ABrother

I don't have normal insurance, so not sure how this works, but there's a $0 co-pay savings card on the Epipen website if anyone wants to check it out https://www.epipen.com/copay%20offer?utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=epi%20pens%20at%20walmart_phrase&utm_content=drug%20store%20specific&utm_campaign=epipen%202015%20-%20branded&utm_source=google&gclid=CPHdge-Z3s4CFQ1kNwodvA4HdQ&gclsrc=ds

Well, boo. Thanks for the info!

Ooo, ooo, it's actually on sale at BB for $50 right now! (I only remember the OM price because I had a friend buy it.) http://www.bestbuy.com/site/brother-hl-l2320d-black-and-white-printer-gray/4499400.p?id=1219755047431&skuId=4499400

Drat, I already bought a copy :crying:

I'm still a few years from 50, but DH's 50th was a few months ago. Of course, he was TDY, so we couldn't do anything special on that day (I did have balloons delivered to his hotel room), but the kids and I had a table set up with gifts for him when he walked in the door at home. We aren't real big on going out, but I bought him a bottle of Johnny Walker Blue and took him out to an all you can eat seafood place. (Since our son is allergic, we don't ever have seafood anymore and DH misses it quite a bit) I would love to know where this bookstore is, please!

Yep, go with laser. Office Max had a Brother wireless laser on sale for $60 a few months ago, maybe check if they are on sale for back to school now.

Haha, I've never actually seen how they search at the border, because the times I've crossed, it was on military orders. We just showed our orders and they told us to have a nice day. (Others on military orders we know had to empty *everything* out of their vehicles.)

Brought tears to my eyes to see this. Sometimes I'm proud of my home state. http://abcnews.go.com/US/orlando-hospitals-bill-pulse-nightclub-massacre-victims/story?id=41639209&cid=abcn_fb

WOAH, what? Wonder what the legalities are of mailing those? Wonder if customs would have kittens if I hop over the border and buy them? Hmmm!!!

I want to keep track of our books on a wall chart this year. I thought about doing the caterpillar, with each body segment having a book on it, but I really don't have a good spot for that. I have a room that's about 16' by 9', but I really only have about two 8' walls in it to use for school stuff. (The other "walls" are either not there due to open floor plan, or have most of it taken up with doorways and windows) Anyway, looking for something to hang that we can write books on (permanently, or maybe a Visavis would work, I don't want normal chalk or dry erase. Not sure how chalk markers stay put), we also have some Wall Pops maps we will be hanging, I'm planning to do a reading corner with a beanbag and possibly some small shelves hung there. Also will be taking up wall space with a few bookshelves as soon as I get them built. Any ideas? What do you have on your schoolroom walls? (My kiddo will be doing 1st/2nd)

(I don't fly because I prefer my feet on the ground, hubby being military, we've had to fly more than a few times. I just don't fly if it's at all possible to drive.) My perfume allergy has actually gotten MUCH worse in the past 5 or so years. As a teen, my mom wore Sand & Sable or White Shoulders. She would have to go out in the yard to spray them. After they had "settled" on her, I would be fine. By the time I reached my early 20s, I could handle Sand & Sable but not White Shoulders, and I wore a little S&S myself through my mid-20s. By my 30s, I could just handle Sunflowers, anything else set me off. By 35, even B&BW body sprays were getting to me. I haven't been employed outside the home in 20 years, so fortunately that hasn't been an issue. My son, though, was offered a job yesterday. He's been looking for over a month, but being 17, there's a lot of restrictions. The job he was offered was at a restaurant that serves shrimp. Of course, he's severely allergic to shrimp and lobster. He's a bit bummed out. Anyway, in my experience, allergies *can* be a disability, which is why I feel so strongly about this topic. (And at no point have I said guide dogs, mind "you", to me they are a necessity.) I haven't ever flown with an animal in the cabin. I have put my parrot in cargo (about 6 years ago), and I've put my cockatiel in cargo (many eons ago for him). I also put a large dog in cargo, but he wouldn't have fit under a seat anyway. I don't know what I'd do if my cats had to fly, or my shih poo. Probably would put the dog in the cabin since no one with allergies that has met her has had problems, but for everyone's sanity and allergies, the cats would go in the cargo. Parrot would definitely go in cargo again, but she wouldn't fit under a seat, either. Yes, allergies suck, and I don't think they trump service dogs, but I do think ESAs are different (as does the gov't and ADA). On planes...whatever, they allow animals on flights, if they fit under like they should. I don't think they should be allowed in a seat. In hotels, however, that's a whole different ball of wax imo. If a hotel does not allow pets, then I don't think an ESA should be allowed. (JFTR, I rarely stay at hotels, only when absolutely necessary. We purchased a travel trailer to avoid issues like this.)

Have you spoken to JAG or IG about that? (Not sure what the Navy calls them) I'm definitely not saying it's impossible, but it wouldn't make sense for the military to allow GIs to willy nilly remove dependents. (I realize ex-spouses are removed, but with the 20-20-20 rules, ex-spouses retain their medical and I can totally see a vindictive ex-spouse trying to remove them from DEERS.) Anyway, not at all saying you're incorrect, it's just something I've not heard of happening, and it seems odd that it would be allowed by DEERS, so I would encourage you to get JAG/IG input if you haven't already.

Actually, if he is a biological child of an AD service member, I don't believe he can be dropped before age 21. When I married an AD servicemember (prior to Tricare being around), they actually backdated my two kids (from a previous marriage) to the date my husband joined the military. In DEERS STILL, my kids show eligibility date from the date he joined, my date shows from our date of marriage. Not sure how it works once he's 21 (if he can be dropped) if he's in full time school (normally covered to age 23 if in full time). Once he isn't in school full time, whether at 21 or 23, he can be part of Tricare Young Adult, WITHOUT the servicemember's permission. Premium for my son in Colorado a year ago was about $165/mo for TYA.

You gotta share what kind of diffusers you have and your favorite oil brands!

In my world, when you leave dogs outside being nuisances all day, you kinda lose the right to get ticked. Our last house had a large (150+) dog/horse outside 24/7 that barked 24/7. His bark was so deep it literally shook the windows in our building, and we were a good 30-50 yards from it. Dog woke us up at all hours of the night barking at the zillions of squirrels. (No, I didn't feed it, or ring their doorbell at 2am every night when it woke my kid up, because we knew weren't staying so I had a "light at the end of the tunnel" and figured another neighbor could handle it.)

I like/enjoy cooking (I don't love it, don't love experimenting) but I HATE/DESPISE/DETEST meal planning and figuring out what to cook. If I had a menu (of course, of things my picky family will eat!) and a grocery list, I'd be happy as a clam. I hate cleaning up, but usually that isn't an issue because my anal-retentive husband can't stay out of the kitchen while I cook anyway, and cleans up while I cook.

How long ago did you have the cat allergy shots? I read an article several years ago that allergy shots were making huge strides, but that cats were still extremely hard to deal with. (I took years and years of allergy shots as a child, they never helped with my animal allergies, but they either worked for most of my food allergies, or I outgrew them.)

Mergath, could you PM me? Tried to PM you and it won't go through. This Epipen fiasco is ludicrous. Was glad to read about the gov't looking into this earlier this week. (What improvements?)

May I recommend a shih tzu? I have always wanted to cuddle a pet and been unable to. My mom heard that poodles had human hair, and got me a cocker spaniel/poodle mix, but alas, I was allergic to her, too. My dog allergy has fortunately lessened quite a bit as I aged (though my cat allergy has worsened), and I can mostly tolerate long-haired dogs now. Anyway...shih tzu are supposedly *hypoallergenic (along with several other breeds), so I got a shih poo, and I sleep with her in my face every night, and no problems at all. *My caveat emptor* Some people do have issues with hypoallergenic dog breeds. My mother has been unable to tolerate ANY dogs since her 40s. When she found her shih poo at a garage sale, she fell in love, but was afraid she would have a reaction to him. She rubbed him all over her face and hands, and then waited an hour or two. When she had no reaction, she went back and bought him. Knock on wood, that was November 2012, and she has yet to have a problem with him. We got ours in summer 2014, and at Christmas 2015, we went to visit her. She had never allowed her dog to sleep in her bed, just in case. But...my rotten mutt wouldn't let anyone get any sleep if she wasn't in bed with my mom, so....now my mom's dog sleeps with her all the time, since it wasn't fair that my dog could get up there and he couldn't, LOL. And, I don't recommend anything mixed with poodle, because while my mom's shih poo has gorgeous shih tzu hair, my darn dog has some crazy mix of both, like super tight curly shih tzu hair, and she's a nightmare to keep groomed. Next one will be just shih tzu lol.

I have had to leave a plane (on a stretcher) in the early 80s due to someone who was carrying horse dander on them. I have had to leave supposedly pet-free hotels over dog and cat dander. I have had to decline homes that have had pets in them if the animals urinated all over or if the carpet isn't cleaned well enough. I usually can't go in pet stores that sell pets with fur, particularly ferrets. I can't go near B&BW, Yankee Candle, or the like, which keeps me out of most malls. I have had to leave two formal events due to perfume, and I can't count the number of times I've had to leave stores due to it. I despise flying, so I avoid it whenever possible, but I do know I have flown with pets before (not my pets), it was pretty common to have dogs in the cabins on flights in Alaska. Fortunately my big trigger is horses, so they are mostly easily avoided, with cats usually just causing non-stop sneezing fits. I can tolerate most dogs fairly well, but breeds with fur like pits, Bostons, etc do tend to aggravate me. I have had to leave grocery stores that have seafood departments, because my son was starting to react to the shrimp, even if we went nowhere near the seafood department. Shrimp on a plane would probably kill him. Thankfully, his peanut allergy is mild. (I thought my son was having psychosomatic reactions to shrimp in grocery stores, until the allergist told me that the slightest scent could be enough to set him off) Agreed. As a landlord to a house I intend to live in in the future, I wonder whose rights would win out in court...my allergies or my tenants' ESA note. Ugh, I hope I never have to find out.

Yep, I'd hazard a guess that if there's a cat allergy, there's a rabbit allergy. (Funnily enough, *most* cats don't make me break in hives, but rabbits and guinea pigs *always* give me hives.)

I almost feel like this thread is saying having a mental health disability trumps having a life threatening disability. I'm of the opinion that life threatening trumps all, and while I realize mental health problems can indeed be life threatening, there would be a much slimmer change of that on a plane flight. And I do see it from both sides, I have a child with severe mental health issues, and I and one of my children have anaphylactic reactions to certain things (some animals and medications in my case, food in the child's)

From what I've read, most species of mosquitoes have a range of 1-3 miles. I, too, think about you when I read about Zika. I'm so glad I don't live in Central FL anymore!