home insurance is one of the thorns in my financial side :-( yes here in FL atleast they do reassess value every yr but we've seen increases in the 7 yrs i've had my home up at 300%. i got my house at $99K and selling prices were up to $300K until this past winter & now selling prices are at $275K. they have slide back a bit last 12 months but that's not much. my insurance went from $250 a yr (2001) to $1200 last yr. in 2004 we had $15K in hurricane damages (from 1 hurricane) that the insurance co would not pay and ever since then rates have gone thru the roof... i've never had any claims other than the 2004 one. we have not had a hurricane since the 3 in 2004 and until recently everyone has been more afraid to get dropped so we've paid what they want but this yr i've shopping it out. my mortgage is a low fixed rate, always has been, but between taxes and insurance my payment went from $500 to $850 over the last 7 yrs ~ liz

I can't address your individual case as I am not a doctor or allergist but here are some things to take into consideration.... The "laundry soap" aisle is not selling SOAP. It is selling detergents. Detergents are just a bunch of chemicals mixed up together that will clean well. On top of all that, the scents they add are just more chemicals. The molecular composition of a lot of these scents are closely related to things like lighter fluid. Mmmm. Nice huh? Have you checked out Charlies Soap for laundry? Real soap. No scent. There is a lot of discussion here on GW about it. Check the Laundry Forum and the Cleaning Forum and then Google for lots more reviews and info. Fabric softner is another culprit that triggers headaches and sinus problems. Fabric softner is a whole bunch of chemicals that are not good for you. (Why coat your clothes with them and breath the fumes?) Some people do have allergies to flowers, but it is the pollen that is the allergen. That does not mean that the scent flowers throw off may not be a trigger to migraines if you are predisposed to them. Migraines triggers are not understood even by doctors. Some people get migraines from certain lighting. All essential oils are not lumped into the same catagory. Some are derived from flowers, (rose, lavender) some from fruit oils, (tangerine, lemon) and some from wood sap. You definately would be far less likely to have a headache from natural products compared to the chemical scents like those in laundry soap. Of course I can't tell you it's for sure, for sure. You may have developed a sensitivity to some things that are found in nature. Are you willing to experiment? Do you have a health food store near you with a trained staff. They can guide you. You could be brave and test one in the store. They have sample bottles to try. Put a drop of oil on a cotton ball or tissue and sniff it by waving it in the air in front of you. Do not sniff directly from the bottles. You may get dizzy. It is too overwhening as the oils are highly concentrated. Also you will not experience the TRUE scent the oil will have when you use it as a bath scent or room scent. Things like Ylang Ylang smell 'bleh' right out of the bottle. If the scent seems OK to you carry the sample with you in your purse and go back to it again later. Put the sample in a little baby food jar or plastic zip baggies so you do not scent your purse in case you do not care for the scent. You should feel fine but if the scent is bothering you, maybe experiment with another scent or just decide that scents are just not for you, as you are too sensitive. You may want to read up on natural essential oils online before you shop for them so you know exactly what you want when you get there and don't have to do a lot of experiementing.

Forgive my ignorance for not reading this thread (not my read) and seeing previous comments if anyone stated this before, but if you do enjoy candles try soy candles. Regular wax burning candles (Yankee being one of them) leek potential hazardous fumes and chemicals that can be carcinogenic (no sourced article here but there are several sourced medical journals with this study). I would stay from candles all together and use artificial ones for that glow, or mood lights, aromatherapy oils are fine too.  Soy candles if you really want candles. Keep the wick short no matter the brand, dont let it burn for more than a couple hours at most, immediately cover the candle with the topper or a plate after done using it. It exhausts the fire, preventing any stains on walls. And keep it in the middle of the room you're using it in.

Lascatx, sounds like you had the same type of leak/flood we experienced, except in my case there was nobody home so the water gushed unimpeded through the house for 18 hours! And Bonnie, our situation is very similar to yours; we also called ServPro immediately and they were at the house within an hour or so--on a Sunday afternoon! They did an amazing job drying things out and actually had all the flooring off within about 36 hours of the flood to completely dry out the underfloor and avoid mold which is a HUGE issue as you can imagine in Miami FL. Like your MIL's house they placed large fans, dehumidifiers etc. and checked on a daily basis to ensure the moisture levels were low. We also reported the damage immediately on Monday morning and the insurance adjuster told us the same thing, that ServPro was exactly the right choice. As for an update, the day before Thanksgiving after almost daily email inquiries for weeks I finally got the paperwork saying the claim was approved, along with a statement of loss I had to sign and notarize to process the payment. I sent that in earlier this week and was notified yesterday the payment will be processed (hopefully meaning a check issued!) within 10-14 business days. Based on that I told my contractor we can get started. I picked up floor tile samples yesterday, focusing on in stock materials because his floor guys will start work December 10th. Even if I don't have payment in hand, everything seems legally in order so I am comfortable moving forward. Once the work is done I can get the house on the rental market again although I hope things aren't too slow during the holidays.