After researching the matter for a couple of weeks, I decided to make a change in my home . . . a lighting change.

5 minutes on any “green” website will tell you that switching from incandescent light bulbs to fluorescent light bulbs is a VERY smart move. Fluorescent light bulbs use significantly less wattage which means that they use a lot less energy. Less energy usage = fewer resources (which is better for the environment) and smaller costs to you on your monthly power bill. Sounds perfect, eh?

The complaint has always been that the light they provide looks garish, because it is still a fluorescent light. However, after reading on websites that the lighting had improved significantly, I decided to go to the store to look for the squiggly light bulbs.

Imagine my surprise when I happened upon the light bulbs in Harris Teeter. Yes, regular grocery store. And while there were some squiggly light bulbs, I was delighted to discover a bulb that looked just like a regular light bulb. 16 watt bulb that has the appearance of a 60 watt bulb. Cost - $8.50. I bought three and scampered home.

Imagine my delight and wonderment when I turned on my lamps in my room AND COULDN’T TELL THE DIFFERENCE!!!!! I called my roommates into my room, individually, and they couldn’t tell a difference either! These light bulbs create light that looks just like regular light bulbs, and they are supposed to last 6 years!!!!!!!

According to the website, my new Philips Marathon Classic 60 light bulbs:

* Philips Marathon Classic energy savers feature advanced SmartBase Technology™ and ALTO® Lamp Technology to create smaller compact fluorescent light bulbs that are better for the environment
* Use up to 70% less energy than standard incandescent light bulbs, saving you money on your utility bills
* Provide a soft white light ideal for any room in your home
* Last up to 6 years, saving you the hassle of replacing burnt out light bulbs
* Are Energy Star qualified

I’m in absolute awe over here! And I’m going to go back to the store and get more to replace the other light bulbs in the apartment. I mean, seriously, these are amazing. And supposedly Wal-Mart is starting to sell them, so they’re available everywhere.

If helping save our planet isn’t enough of an incentive, think about how much money you could save on your power bill, and PLEASE go out and buy these for your home! Just replacing one light bulb will make a big difference!

Better for the environment, cheaper monthly bills, AND you can’t tell a difference?! Works for me!

Received from Laura:

A - Available/Single? Single AND available
B - Best Friend? I have so many! I guess in real life it would be my roommates, Matt and Ben, my best girlfriends, Stephanie and Brittany, and online, Mouse!
C- Cake or Pie? Mmmm, what a question! Both, as long as they’re chocolate, LOL! Actually, probably pie.
D - Drink Of Choice? Coffee or hot chocolate!
E - Essential Item You Use Everyday? Does my computer count?
F - Favorite Color? Blue, hands down, no questions asked!
G - Gummy Bears Or Worms? Ooo, tough one! Probably bears . . . because you can make them dance
H - Hometown? Born and raised in Georgia, but currently live in Florida . . . as far as a hometown goes, I guess it would be Ponte Vedra Beach, FL, but I really feel like a Georgia girl at heart.
I - Indulgence? Starbucks . . . or something chocolate-y and sinful!
J - January Or February? January . . . you get to start with a new year!
K - Kids & Their Names? Matt and Ben. Oh wait, you meant real children, not my 23 year old roommates that act like children that I have to take care of ;-). None.
L - Life Is Incomplete Without? Christmas. Sorry, I LOVE Christmas
M - Marriage date? none
N- Number Of Siblings? 1 - my younger brother Bo, with whom I have an excellent relationship
O - Oranges Or Apples? apples!
P - Phobias/Fears? heights - don’t get me started
Q - Favorite Quote? Something my mother said to me that has stuck with me for a long time, and I think about it almost daily “If you ask someone to do a job for you or to help you, you have to accept the way that they do it. Don’t yell at them because they didn’t do it your perfect way - be glad that they helped at all!”
R - Reason to Smile – my family
S - Season? Summer! But the past couple of years I’ve been liking spring a lot too.
T - Tag 3 or 4 people? Tagging Brittany and Bug!
U - Unknown Fact About Me - The past few months I’ve grown to where I HAVE to make my bed in my apartment or I feel like I haven’t accomplished anything that day. However, this is not a trait that has come home with me. Hmm . . .
V - Vegetable you don’t like? If you know me in real life, you know that this is a funny question - I am a very picky eater. I’m gonna go with broccoli, but know that there are many more.
W - Worst Habit? I’ve been trying for 10 years to quit biting my fingernails . . . no success yet.
X - X-rays You’ve Had? Is a mammogram an x-ray? If not, then none. Well, my teeth, they do do that at the dentist office . . .
Y - Your Favorite Food? Give me chicken, cheese, and chocolate and I’m good for life!
Z - Zodiac Sign? I’m a Gemini, but I’m not really into horoscopes . . . like Laura, God’s got me covered.

Man it’s been busy!

On Thursday, Matt arrived right after lunch, so I now have both of my roommates - YAY! Then, around 7, my parents, brother, and the puppies arrived. Bo spent the night at my apartment that night, and Mama and Daddy went on to thier hotel.

On Friday, Bo left eaaaaarly to go to Elon and move in. He was super excited, though he would NEVER have showed it, LOL! They were busy moving him in all day, and I stayed at home and helped Matt get settled. And that night was a theatre party.

On Saturday, I drove to Elon to see Bo’s room and go to the family picnic. It was so crowded - parking was a nightmare. But he seems to have all of his stuff ready to go, and he’s gettng along fine with his roommate and suitemates. After that, all the parents were supposed to leave, so Mama and Daddy headed back to Winston-Salem to my apartment. Mama got to hang out with the puppies while Daddy and I had an accounting lesson (good thing about a father who is a CPA - he can help you with your homework for business school). After they left, we had a bunch of people over for the NASCAR race, we went to a concert, then we came back to watch Alien (which I had never seen). Phew.

On Sunday, Mama and Daddy came to pick up the puppies (:-() and then they left to go back to Florida. In the apartment, we cleaned some, and then we had a business meeting for something called IBO (more on that in another post). Next - homework. Boo. Then I fixed supper for everyone, which was delicious because we had zipper peas that Mama brought me :-)!!! And after that, we had a much-needed business meeting for MagicMouth, and we have so many cool things in the works for this year! It’s just super exciting!!!

So now I’m exhausted, and it’s Monday, LOL!!! Oh well . . .

Thirteen Things about LINDSEY

1. As you can see, I am back and ready to go! There was a bug in DirectAdmin, the software that the server uses, and it allowed hackers to manipulate anything running on PHP, especially WordPress. However, my host ROCKS, and in less than a week she had physically replaced the hard drive on the server, re-set up EVERYONE’S accounts, restored all the databases (in mint condition), and all websites were back up and running! She’s my favorite :-)!

2. As much as I hated the site being down, and as much as I missed blogging (I was gone less than a week, how pathetic am I?), it was probably good that I couldn’t blog. Last week we did an intense business simulation that absolutely consumed my week. I literally had time for NOTHING else. And that was supposed to be the easy week between sessions! I don’t know what they were thinking!

3. Speaking of . . . school is killing me. The further I get into this program, the harder and more intense it gets. I have NEVER had this much work for school. And it’s not easy work. Some of it makes sense . . . a lot doesn’t. I’m working hard to grasp the concepts, but there are SO MANY new ones that I feel like I’m lost. The schedule is crazy, the work is hard (and in high volume), and my brain doesn’t like to work this way.

4. One nice thing is I FINALLY have a roommate ;-)! Ben finally moved up here this past weekend, and it’s been really nice having him around. He’ll sit around and talk about artsy things with me, which apparently my brain is craving. It’s amazing how an intellectual conversation about something artistic makes my constant headache GO AWAY! Plus, Ben gives me hugs, which I was quite deficient on after a summer of living alone!

5. This sounds so trivial, but one of the things that has made school be so exhausting has been waking up MUCH earlier than I have been the past 4 years. I have to be up around 6AM and be sitting in the classroom ready to go for class at 8AM.

6. One of the things that has gotten me through those hard mornings is coffee! Yup, I was able to cross off #93 on my list of 101 in 1001 - I’ve switched from Diet Coke to black coffee in the mornings!

7. Another thing that gets me through the mornings - breakfast! When I was waking up at 11AM every day, it as easy to skip it, but now I eat it every day! Mark #18 off the list!

8. This past weekend (I didn’t have much homework) I was able to finish watching all the DVDs that I own. I had a couple of TV shows to go, but now I’m good! Cross #82 off!

9. As I posted in my post about backing up, I am now backing up both my websites and my hard drive regularly, knocking off #67 and #68 on my list!

10. Tomorrow my parents, brother, and cousin are all coming up here. And on Friday Bo (my brother) will be moving onto campus at Elon University, 45 minutes from my apartment. He’s growing up so fast, I can’t believe he’s starting college!

11. Along with all my family, the puppies are coming to visit! And since they’re all gonna be busy moving Bo in (and my parents will be staying in a hotel), the puppies get to live with me for the weekend! Woo hoo!!!! I’m so excited, they’re so adorable, and I miss them so much! They are Cavalier King Charles Spaniels - the black one (Tricolor) is Olive, and the tan one (Blenheim) is Ella :)!

12. After browsing around blogs yesterday, I found a post about FlyLady - and decided to join. We’ll see how it goes!

13. Before the crash I did a lot of blogroll checks for Thursday Thirteen, and now that I’m back, I’m gonna pick up where I left off! It was actually a lot of fun because I visited a lot of sites that were newer to the blogroll, so I hadn’t seen them before. But goodness, we’ve got a lot of participants now, LOL!

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