Giving Thanks: I am thankful for incandescent lightbulbs.

The lightbulb in our bathroom ceiling fixture burned out -- finally! It was one of those ridiculous curly bulbs. You know the ones that are supposed to last forever and save energy? I hate those things. They give off a weird, yellowish light, and not much of it. It takes a while for it to warm up and put out what little light it does, but by then I've switched it back off again. I think I could get more light out of a kerosene lantern, or a couple of candles. My husband, bless his thrifty soul, was the one who put that one in.

But this was my chance. I grabbed a box of 100 watt incandescent bulbs (did you know you can still buy those things?), and replaced that one wimpy compact fluorescent bulb with two of the real thing. I flipped on the light switch. Hallelujah! Glorious light blazed from those two lightbulbs, bounced off the white walls, and reflected from the mirror. We had so much light it nearly blinded me for a second. Then I turned and saw myself in the mirror, clearly, for the first time in a long time. Ouch! I'm thinking maybe we should try a slightly lower wattage.