Well, in case anyone else is wondering about the laminate. I went with FedEx/Kinkos. It cost less than $15.00 and looks really good. It is thinner than I would like but I am putting it on the machine and testing to see how it handles the wear and tear.
Will be visiting a store in Dallas area on Monday to see what they have. It would be great to be able to order a bunch of samples of different materials that I could use to print on and to laminate with.