Yeah.  I come from a very libertine family.  Sometimes I forget that it's supposed to be shameful to be a woman.  (Not implying anything there.  Our society just sucks)

As for the seeing in Darkness.  Sarah doesn't exactly.  I have a page long elaborate description of how it all works but opted for the simpler version gor brevity.  Effectively she can only see in her darkness and sees by feeling the voids where her darkness is not in a manner similar to echolocation.  Remember... it's ectoplasm blocking out all light, not actual darkness.

As for thermal vision... You are absolutely correct.  It would still function because thermal vision isn't actually a visual sense.  Thermal vision is actually a tactile sense.  A device senses the changes in molecular motion in the nearby air molecules and complicated electronics convert that information into a visual representation.  In a sense, thermal senses have more in common with sonar then they do with ocular systems.   That's why the range is so limited on such devices.  These devices, however, can be blocked by simple things like a thin sheet of glass or even plastic wrap stretched across a hallway!

There's a great episode of Mythbusters that demonstrates this perfectly.