My Personal Rankings of The Cosby Show Intros

       When I was in 8th grade one of my favorite shows was The Cosby Show. Despite the fact that it had been off the air for over a decade I really enjoyed watching reruns of it on the WGN Chicago station every day after school while eating pop tarts or potato chips. I initially started watching the show because I was a huge fan of Raven Symone at the time and knew she had played the role of the Huxtable’s granddaughter when she was only 3 years old. I really enjoyed watching all of her cute scenes as Olivia but also grew to love the rest of the Huxtable clan as well. The Cosby Show was very unique for its time because it featured a predominantly African American cast and each child had a distinct personality and storylines of their own, especially as they grew older. But the cast as a whole had such beautiful chemistry that when you were watching the show it was hard to believe that the Huxtables were not a real family. There was the patriarch of the family Heathcliff (Bill Cosby) who was a physician, his wife Clair (Phylicia Raschad), a lawyer, oldest daughter Sondra (Sabrina Lebeauf), free spirited Denise (Lisa Bonet), middle son Theo (Malcolm Jamal Warner), typical teenager Vanessa (Tempestt Bledsoe) and the youngest of the bunch Rudy (Keisha Knight Pulliam). Eventually the two oldest girls got married and had families of their own, expanding the cast to include Geoffrey Owens and Joseph C Phillips as husbands Elvin and Martin respectively and their children Olivia (Raven Symone) and twins Nelson (Gary LeRoi Gray) and Winnie (Jessica Ann Vaughn). Then in season 7 Clair’s 17 year old Cousin Pam (Erika Alexander) moved in with the family and gained an upbeat personality and social life of her own, probably to keep the show youthful as many of the Cosby kids were headed off to college at this time. But what really made the show stand out to me were the different intros and variations of the theme spanning across 8 seasons. The Cosby Show theme song, entitled “Kiss Me”did not contain any lyrics but was a very simple melody that was played in a different style of music every season. From Latin to orchestral, The Cosby Show did it all. There were seven different intros used throughout the series run and I thought it would be fun to rank each one from my least favorite all the way down to my personal favorite of all time. So on with the show!

#7. Season 1: The Huxtable Family at the Park

   This is the only Cosby Show intro to not include the cast members dancing to the music. Instead it’s pretty much a photo album of the Huxtable Family having a fun day at the park. It’s cute but just seems like any other family sitcom intro from the 80s and doesn’t stand out from the other intros that followed it. It also appears very outdated and the photos look like they were taken in the 1960s rather than the 80s. The original rendition of the theme is very basic and smooth jazz complete with saxophone riffs. It’s very 80s and sounds like something straight out of the Roseanne show. Even though this intro is very basic and lack luster compared to the later ones, it does give us a great introduction of the family. Each family member is seen getting out of the car and then it slides to their individual picture along with the cast member’s name. Overall a very basic 80s family sitcom intro but a great introduction to the Huxtable Family.

#6. Season 4: The Huxtables in the 1930s

This intro features a vocal jazz/scat rendition of the theme song sung by Bobby McFerrin. I like this rendition because I could tell McFerrin put a lot of work into recording all the vocal parts separately and then putting them together to make it sound like a whole acapella group was performing the song, when in reality it was just him! That definitely took a lot of talent to put together and I think it was very well done. However it does come across as old fashioned for an 80s sitcom intro and is a simple, lackluster rendition of the song compared to some of the other seasons. The Huxtables are dressed in formal 1930s attire complete with tuxedos for the men, Clair’s pink frilly dress and Vanessa’s flight attendant outfit. This is also the first intro to feature Elvin as he is now Sondra’s husband and I loved the part in the intro that represented Cliff giving his daughter away. This is also the first intro to not feature Denise as she is away at college at this time. But she is still represented by Cliff holding up a framed picture of her near the end, probably to remind the viewers that she will still appear sporadically throughout the season. Overall an interesting twist on the intro but a bit old fashioned for my liking.

#5. Season 2: Dance Revolution

This is the first intro to feature each member of the Huxtable family dancing individually with Bill Cosby during their credit. It is also the first intro to feature Sondra as she was actually added to the series halfway through the first season. The season 2 version of the theme song is still very basic but has a very rhythmic dance beat to it which I think was a great step up from season 1 and really spiced it up. The dress for this intro is definitely more casual and is the first to feature Bill Cosby in one of his signature sweaters. I also like how each character’s personality is brought out through their dance moves, for example Denise pushing Bill Cosby away represents her individuality and free spirit and Theo’s crazy freestyle dance symbolizes his troublemaker personality. Overall a great classic intro but doesn’t stand out among some of the other ones.

#4. Season 8: Hip Hop Huxtables

This is definitely the most controversial intro in the series as it was originally produced for season 7 but the creators of the colorful mural that was used as a backdrop threatened to sue producers because it was used without permission. But once this was settled, the intro was brought back for season 8 with Lisa Bonet and Joseph C Phillips edited out since they were no longer part of the cast. Despite all the hate this intro gets I actually really like it. I like how bright is and the hip hop rendition on the theme song. It’s just so quirky and different and really gave the intro an early 90s feel. I also like the hip hop inspired clothing, although some of it looks to be cheaply made. Overall a very fun, bright and lively intro for the final season of the show.

#3 Season 3: Latin Beat

This intro is very similar to that of season 2 but this rendition of the theme song has a Latin Beat to it and is my favorite rendition of the theme to date. The cast is dressed very similar to season with Bill Cosby’s signature sweater still there but some of them, such as Rudy look a lot more formal. The dancing is also better this time around with the exception of Vanessa just looking embarrassed by her dad. Typical teen there. Otherwise not much more to say about this one that I didn’t cover in season 2’s description. 

#2 Season 6&7: Apollo Theatre

This intro features the Huxtables dancing at the Apollo Theatre and is the first to feature Raven Symone as Olivia and Joseph C Phillips as Martin. The music has a very groovy saxophone beat to it and is very upbeat and catchy. I feel like this intro is a jazzed up take of seasons 2-4. Each cast member dances individually or with their spouse and is dressed formally. Even Bill Cosby himself is sporting a tux here. Overall a great new take on the classic intro sequence.

#1 Season 5: Tropical Paradise 

This has to be the most dynamic intro I have ever seen in a TV series. This was many cast members least favorite intro to film but I think it’s the best by a mile. It is set on a tropical pastel background and starts out with just Bill Cosby in kind of a silhouette form and the rest of the cast runs by his side to join him. This is also the first and only intro where everyone is dancing together and the cast names just come up on the screen one by one. The dancing is very well choreographed and I can tell a lot of work went into it. The cast is also dressed in tropical dresses and summer tops and shorts for the men. The season 5 rendition of the theme was recorded by an orchestra and is very big, dynamic and makes this intro memorable. However as dynamic as this intro is it usually accompanies a very lackluster episode. Aside from the birth of Elvin and Sondra’s twins season 5 was very uneventful and kind of boring with most of the Huxtable kids being away at college or not living at the house anymore. It’s pretty clear that the writers were running out of ideas without much of the cast being regulars. Overall season 5 has the best intro by far but is also the worst season of the 8.

Colleen Reviews Kidz Bop Part 2

 Ok, so let me explain here! I have had this post partially done for years but just never bothered to finish it until now. So the majority of these reviews were written a few years back with the exception of Kidz Bop 10. Hope you still enjoy them and I hope to release part 3 soon.

Kidz Bop 6

The Reason by Hoobastank

I actually owned Kidz Bop 6 as a kid so I couldn’t really choose a song I had never heard. But I chose The Reason because I remember this song being on the radio all the time back in the day but I could not remember what the Kidz Bop version sounded like and was curious because this is one of those songs I couldn’t imagine sounding right with kids’ voices. And boy did I hit the nail on the head with that one!! Ok maybe it’s not as unbearable as the Cheetah Girls song I reviewed in part 1 but it’s still pretty bad. The kid’s voices are really high pitched for some reason and sound like a bad version of Alvin and the Chipmunks. Then the guy they are singing with is really not much better at all. His pitch is all over the place and he clearly does not have the vocal range for this song. There were also parts where I thought he wasn’t putting any effort into the singing and just sounded well bored and like he didn’t want to be in the recording studio with those kids and I can’t say I blame him with how annoying the kids voices sounded. The only good part of the song is the arrangement and instrumentation. Minus the singing it sounds very much like the original. Overall I will give it a rating of a 3. Not as bad as the Cheetah Girls song, the instrumentation sounds like the original but the singing is just not great.

Kidz Bop 7

The Pieces of Me by Ashlee Simpson

I chose to review this song because it was my favorite at age 12 but I never knew Kidz Bop did it and since Ashlee Simpson has such a unique voice, I couldn’t imagine Kidz Bop doing a decent version. But honestly it wasn’t too bad. The girl they chose to sing with the kids had a unique tone to her voice as well which can especially be heard in the first verse and she actually sounded pretty good. But at the same time I almost felt like she recorded that after doing an intense workout. It was very breathy and lacked consistency, especially in the chorus. I think if she had relaxed a little more and learned to sustain her breathing, it would have sounded a lot better.  The kids weren’t too bad on this one and mainly served as backup on the chorus. Overall I give this one a 5, not too bad but not the greatest either.

Kidz Bop 8

Vertigo by U2

I chose this song with my mom in mind because she is a big U2 fan and used to play this song in the car all the time back in the day so I am pretty familiar with the original. Because U2 has such a distinctive sound, I was fully expecting this cover to be unbearable and not sound right with kid’s voices. However, I was pleasantly surprised. The adult singer in this one actually sounded fairly similar to Bono of U2 and did a good job with this song in making it sound like the original. The kid singers mainly served as backup and only sang on the chorus part. I thought they blended nicely with the adult singer and didn’t sound too annoying on this one. Although I could have done without them shouting, “Hola!” and “Turn it up loud!” during the instrumental solos. A little unnecessary but overall a pretty solid cover. I would give this one a 9. Sounds like the original and would be great to play for kids. 

Kidz Bop 9

Just the Girl by The Click Five

This one actually started out pretty good. The adult singer wasn’t the best singer in the world and had a very simple, plain sounding voice with no vibrato, grit or anything fancy. But the original singer has a pretty straight voice as well so I felt like that kind of fit the song, plus the song doesn’t exactly require a huge vocal range either. So I felt like the adult singer did a good job singing this song. However, things took a turn for the worst when the kid singers joined in on the chorus. They were high pitched and just didn’t really sound right singing lyrics about being in love with a girl. I mean they are probably too young to have experienced that and having them sing about being in love just didn’t seem very age appropriate to me. The other problem I had was the second verse. The kids were repeating the lyrics after the adult singer on the instrumental lines and sometimes even shouting them. I found this to be very annoying and unnecessary because the original only had a quick instrumental riff at those parts. Overall, I would give this one a 5. Not horrible, sounds close to the original but this is just one of those songs that doesn’t sound right with kids voices.

Kidz Bop 10

Bad Day by Daniel Powter

This was definitely a very popular song back in the day and was actually used on American Idol season 5 whenever someone got eliminated. So this is a song I have heard numerous times and I was very interested in hearing the Kidz Bop rendition of it. And honestly it wasn’t a horrible rendition but wasn’t great either. The kids yelling “woo” at the beginning kind of caught me off guard at first because there is nothing like that in the original recording. This is supposed to be more of a slow ballad with more of a sad tone, because after all it’s about a bad day right? So having kids cheerfully yelling “woo” and “yeah” throughout was just annoying and did not work for this particular song. The adult singer they had on here was actually pretty good. I mean he did lack the range of Daniel Powter in certain spots but overall he did a good job. But the best part of the song for me was instrumentation. It was spot on with the piano part and was a great recreation of the original. Overall I would say this is pretty solid average track, it gets a 6 from me.

Making a Comeback With Some Talk About Praise and Worship Music

 After a hiatus of well over a year I am back here on my original blog with a brand new post about praise and worship music. I want to start out by saying that I love contemporary Christian and worship music just as much as the next person, in fact it’s one of my favorite music genres. These songs are usually beautiful and inspiring and can be uplifting during hard times because they are a great reminder of God’s love for us. I could write this whole post about all my favorite Christian songs and why I like them. But today I thought I would do something a little different. A few days ago I came across an article online that someone wrote about worship songs they would “be fine with never singing again” and I just thought I would do my own list of Christian songs I would be okay with not singing again. Now this isn’t going be some anti God post as these aren’t songs I necessarily consider bad. They just wouldn’t be my first choice of worship songs to listen to. I’m also going to put my own twist on this idea and suggest an alternative song to every song on this list. So enough with my rambling, let’s get this show on the road….

8 Worship Songs I Could Do Without

8. “How Can I Keep From Singing” (Chris Tomlin)- Sometimes praise and worship music can be a little over the top on the praise end and may come across as unrealistic and this is certainly a good example of that. It’s not very hard to keep from singing God’s praise and shouting his name and I don’t think any of us are going to sing during all the times listed in the bridge, especially on our “last breath.” It’s just an over the top and entirely unrealistic worship song.

A Good Alternative Song: “Behold Our God” by Brandon Heath. 

7.  “Everyday” (Hillsong Worship)- Another good example of an unrealistic worship song. I mean I don’t think any Christian can perfectly walk with God and follow in his word every single day of their lives. What a commitment that is! My gosh, if I were able to commit to following God as much as it says in this song, I would be happy and confident all the time and would always have a good day and that’s just not practical. We all have bad days and we all sin at times, which doesn’t always make us “a light unto the world.” This song just comes off to me as someone trying to be a perfectionist in their following of God and I just don’t agree with that. My other problem with it is the verses sound like someone is talking on the phone to God or trying to leave him a voicemail, “What to say Lord? It’s you who gave me life and I can’t explain just how much you mean to me…” Maybe you just need to give the song a listen to see where I’m going with that. It’s just an odd and somewhat lazy tone for a worship song and comes across as awkward to me. Just my opinion.

Alternative Song: “See You” by Josh Wilson (a much more realistic depiction of the life of a Christian)

6. “Above All” (Michael W Smith)- My main problem with this song is it’s so darn depressing. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all about songs about the resurrection of Christ and think it is one of the most important stories in the Bible. But there are much better songs  about that subject matter than this one out there. It’s just too sad to hear about Jesus being crucified behind a stone and“rejected and alone.” It makes you feel guilty because he did that for us. It’s just a really sad depiction of the resurrection. The other problem is the song is very repetitive. You are basically singing the same two verses and chorus over and over again. That can make it come off as boring. I definitely think another verse could have been added and maybe a bridge in there. That would certainly make the song more interesting to sing.

Alternative Song: “Glorious Day (Living He Loved Me)” by Casting Crowns

5.  “Live the Difference” (Aquire the Fire)- Yet another overly confident Christian song about sacrificing yourself for God. There’s not too much to say about this one. But it is very repetitive and that high note in the echo part in the verses is like nails on a chalkboard. It’s comes across as showing off how high you can sing and doesn’t fit the song. I guess other than that the song isn’t bad but there are better songs out there about sacrificing one’s self

Alternative Song: “Lead Me to the Cross” by Hillsong United

4. “Holiness is What I Long For” (Jesus Army)- This song is the king of repetitive Christian songs. It basically repeats the same lyrics over and over again but the word holiness is switched out each time for righteous, faithfulness etc. It’s just too long and boring and the whole time you are listening to it you are just waiting for it to end. Also Christian comedian Tim Hawkins kind of ruined this song for me in his video of corporate worship songs where he made classic praise and worship songs into ads for things just as cars and in this case Krispy Kreme Doughnuts. “Krispy Kreme, Krispy Kreme is what I long for, Krispy Kreme is what I need. Krispy Kreme is what I want to eat!” And of course my favorite line, “chew it up, transform it.” Now every time I hear that song I just think of Krispy Kreme doughnuts and the message of the song doesn’t register with me anymore.

Alternative Song: “Christ Be Magnified” by Cody Carnes

3. “One Drop of Your Blood Lord Jesus” (???)- I have no idea who sings this song but it was always one of my least favorite songs to sing at church as a kid because it was just so eerie. I mean the song came off as very slow and serious and was in a minor key. Take all those aspects and put them into a song about blood and you have a very creepy, unsettling song. I remember always thinking of hospitals whenever I heard that song because of the blood reference and that on its own was unsettling to me because I have so much PTSD surrounding hospitals and getting blood drawn. So any creepy, slow song about blood is not something I want to sing in church or anywhere for that matter!

Alternative Song: “Nothin but the Blood of Jesus” by HeartCry Worship (Another song about blood but much less unsettling and more fun and upbeat.)

2. “Come, Now is the Time to Worship” (Brian Doerkson)- Yet another boring, slow and repetitive song. But this one is more about the fact that we are doing the art of worshipping God and not as much about him. That is until the chorus hits, “One day every tongue with confess you are God…” It’s kind of random and doesn’t fit the rest of the song. I think this song would be great to use to calm down a group of preschoolers in order to read to them. “Come, now is the time for reading. Come give me your listening ears…” It’s calming nature would work great for that but as a worship song…maybe not.

Alternative Song: “How Great is Our God” by Chris Tomlin (a great song that is actually about God!)

1. “Every Move I Make” (David Crowder Band)- The main reason I have this song at number 1 is because of the PTSD I have surrounding it. A long time ago we sang this song in Vacation Bible School and I have bad memories of getting braces on my teeth that week and being in so much pain that it was hard for me to sing. So hearing this song just brings back unwanted memories of that time. It’s also quite cheesy, especially the version we sang in VBS. It had this annoying “na na na na na” part at the beginning and electric guitars in the background which were completely unnecessary. The other problem with this song is it only has two verses and a chorus and just repeats over and over. It definitely could have used more lyrics. Plus the “everywhere I look I see your face” part can come off as creepy. Overall, it’s just a cheesy, repetitive song and I would rather not sing it in church.

Alternative Song: “Love Take Me Over” by Steven Curtis Chapman 

My Top 5 Worst Christmas Songs Ever Recorded

 I want to start out by saying that Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year. I love decorating the tree, going shopping for gifts for my family and friends, baking cookies and listening to Christmas music. However there are some Christmas songs that just get on my nerves. They are played over and over again in stores, in the car, on television etc during the holiday season and tend to press a few buttons after hearing them repeatedly. For a special Christmas post, I thought I would list the top 5 Christmas songs that I personally can’t stand the most. At the end I will even list a few dishonorable mention songs that almost made my list. Let’s start with #5

#5 Wonderful Christmastime by Paul McCartney: For this one I don’t think it’s the song specifically that’s bad. The problem is it’s really overplayed during the holiday season. If hearing it for the first time, one might think that’s it’s not so bad but after multiple plays it becomes intolerable. The obnoxious instrumentation and singing definitely make the song annoying as well. I actually like the Kelly Rowland cover of this song but this one is very annoying.

#4. Baby It’s Cold Outside by multiple artists: I don’t have much to say about this song except I hate it. It’s just too sappy, cheesy and irritating. I also find it creepy that the guy is trying to get the girl to stay with him when she clearly doesn’t want to, he needs to learn to back off. And what the heck is with the line, “Say what’s in this drink?” It is just so random and ruins the flow of the song. I’m sorry I just hate this song!

#3.2,000 Miles by The Pretenders: I think I am probably one of the few people in this world to not like this song, in fact I absolutely hate it. It has a cheesy 80s sound with whiney, nasally singing and just sounds really karaoke like to me. Overall, just awful, enough said!

#2 Dominick the Donkey by Lou Monte: If this were a list of the most obnoxious Christmas songs, this would definitely be #1. The “Hee Haws” are just super crazy and obnoxious and the rest of the song isn’t any less annoying. This may seem cute the first time you listen to it. But imagine being locked in an elevator with this song playing on repeat. Yeah, nothing cute about it anymore.

And the #1 worst, most annoying, horrific Christmas song I have ever heard is...........

Drum roll please!!!!

#1 Christmas Shoes by Newsong:I know this is a bit of a surprising choice for me since I am a pretty devout Christian and love almost all Christian music. But I’m not afraid to admit that I hate this song. It’s just too sad. A little boy is at some store buying a pair of shoes for his mother who is dying of cancer or some other terminal illness. Not only is it sad that the mom is on her death bed. But the boy is also poor and tries to pay for the shoes with pennies. Then the clerk tells him he doesn’t have enough. Okay recap: This boy stood there and told the clerk his whole story about he is buying the shoes for his dying mother and the clerk has the audacity to tell him that “son, there’s not enough there.” What the heck?! I would have just paid for the shoes out of my paycheck! At least the grumpy guy behind him at the check out finally gets some sense or “cents” knocked into him and pays for the shoes. Another problem is shouldn’t the boy be with his mother on her last days instead of at a store buying her shoes? Just my opinion. Anyway, the song is just way too depressing and not something I want to hear at a joyful time like Christmas.

And now for some dishonorable mentions:

I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus by The Jackson 5 (or really anyone): I strongly considered this song for the #5 place on this list. Every recording of it is annoying but the Jackson 5 version is a whole different realm of annoying, “I did see mommy kissing Santa Claus, I did I really did!” We believe you kid, now stop singing!

Little Drummer Boy by Harry Simeone Chorale: another surprising religious choice. I genuinely like this song. But the Harry Simeone Chorale version that always plays at Christmas is just long, boring and repetitive and the whole time you are listening to it, you’re waiting for it to finally end!

Donde Esta Santa Claus by Augie Rios: I heard this song for the first time a few years back and found it irritating and repetitive. The kid’s voice, the lyrics, the cheesy instrumentation etc. But now it kind of reminds me of my nephew and his persistent questions and for that reason I can honestly say I don’t hate it as much.

Winter Wonderland by the Eurythmics: another strong contender for this list. I like the song Winter Wonderland but this version is just ugh! The intro is rather creepy with the deep voice singing “Over the ground, lies a mantel of white....” then the synth music reminds me of something that would play in a horror movie. Then the rest of the songs just sounds very 80s and cheesy. I actually love most 80s music but this one just did not stand the test of time for me.

Do You Hear What I Hear? By Whitney Houston: Do You Hear What I Hear is actually one of my favorite Christmas songs but this version is all over the place. Whitney’s vocals are just really over the top for this song and all over the place. Don’t get me wrong, I think she is a total diva and can sing the phone book. But some songs are just not meant to be sung in a diva voice and this is one of them. Enough said.

Fall 2020 Blog Update

 Wow!! I can’t believe how crazy long it has been since I updated this blog!! After quarantine ended I got so caught up with returning to work, bible study, getting my new iPad and elimination dieting that this blog pretty much moved to the back of my priority list and got abandoned. But I am now ready to get this show back on the road and get this blog back up and moving again. So get ready for a variety of new life updates, Kidz Bop Reviews and funny childhood stories, it’s going to be epic!!

Let’s start off with a life update. After being quarantined for almost 4 months, I finally returned to work at the Library in early July. It was a definitely a way more crazy transition than I anticipated, let me tell you! I had to learn a variety of new safety procedures during the first week back, such as taking my temperature when I arrived for my shift and wiping down the computer keyboard and monitor after I used them to fill out my time card. I was also told that pages would need to wipe down high touch surfaces with Clorox spray and a special cloth every hour beginning at 10 am, unless the designated cleaning personnel is present in the branch. However, the most difficult new task to learn was emptying the book drop. Before the pandemic, the pages would just empty the outdoor book drop periodically throughout their shifts and then during closing we would replace the two wooden bins with the bin cloth bin and the opposite would be done at opening.  Library customers were also allowed to return books through small slots near the main entrance and the clerks were just in charge of taking care of those items. Sounds pretty simple, right? Well now doing the book drop is quite the long step by step process. Here is what I have to do:

1. Check both the indoor cloth bin book drop near the entrance and the outdoor book drop to see if either of them are full.

2. If one or both book drops are full, go into the big meeting room and put on your rubber gloves, plastic gown and face shield. Take off your mask

3. Go to the back room and take out the empty cloth bin and replace the indoor bin with it

4. Wheel the indoor bin just by the door of the outside book drop and transfer books from outside drop into the indoor bin

5. Wheel the full indoor bin into the big meeting room and park it next to the next available empty table

6. Move books from bin onto the table and consolidate them into piles fairly high to take up as little room as possible 

7. After bin is empty, take a yellow post it note and sharpie and write down the day of the week, date and time the book drop was emptied and initial it. Put the note in front of the books you just piled up on the table.

8. Wheel empty bin to back room

9. Go back to meeting room and take off face shield and gown. Hang them on hook. Put on mask

10. Spray down face shield and gown with Clorox spray

11. Throw away gloves and wash your hands

Whew! It is quite the big job and definitely took me a while to learn all the steps. It was also overwhelming at first to remember to clean every hour. I was so overwhelmed and stressed trying to remember everything that first week that I misplaced my locker key twice and even forgot the password I had set on my time card my first day back. But to be fair, I had also gotten my new iPad at the time and had to set lots of new passwords on that. So it was very hard to remember which password I set for each thing. After that first week, I definitely got used to being back at work and things started to go a lot smoother. However, there was one day earlier this month where I was spraying down my gown and face shield and as I was spraying, the top of the bottle came off. The bottle then fell to the floor and splattered all over. A small droplet got on the right side of my face and before I could even wipe it off, it dropped right into my eye. Of course my eye was burning like crazy and I had to run to the back to try to wipe it. Luckily as soon as I wiped my eye, the burning stopped and I was okay after that. After work that day, I notified my supervisor about what happened and she sent an email to all the staff describing my incident and reminding them to make sure the tops of the spray bottles are tight before spraying. The email did not specify who got Clorox spray in their eye. But I’m sure people probably figured it was me as I am known to be the clutz among the staff lol.

Other than working, I have also been experimenting with my eating habits and late last week, I officially became gluten free. For the past year I have been having lots of stomach issues. At first, it was just an occasional thing and I didn’t think much of it. But by the end of the summer, it got to the point where I was feeling sick several days a week and my stomach issues were starting to really interfere with my daily life. Sometimes it was hard to even leave my house without fearing being sick in public. So after Labor Day, I officially eliminated dairy from my diet to see if that would help my stomach. But after a month and a half, I still was not noticing a difference with my stomach. So I have recently cut out gluten in addition to the dairy, so we will see if that helps. My diet right now is definitely very strict and hard to manage at times. But I am staying strong and trusting in God to provide me with what I need to grow from this experience. So far I have found a variety of gluten free foods to try and some nice people from my church, who have food allergies even dropped off a nice bag of gluten free foods for me to try!! It is so awesome to be part of such a loving church community where people are constantly praying for each other  and are so actively involved in each other’s lives. Seeing people being there for each other like this has really increased my faith and trust in God and his use of people in our lives. He is the reason I have gotten through COVID and my new dietary restrictions with so much courage, strength and a positive mind set.

“I can do all things through a Christ who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:13