Mix and Match Boosted!

 You might remember way back in April, when Calib, Peyton, Asa & I were finally up for the vaccine! After waiting (not so) patiently for our turn, we were super excited to finally get our hands on the covid-19 vaccine. Ah, different times, right? 

We ended up at the FEMA site, getting the one dose Johnson and Johnson. By then, there was already talk of boosters, so I had my suspicions this wouldn't be the only dose that we needed. But, we were doing what we were supposed to do. Get the first vaccine offered to you as soon as it was avilable. So, we got the jab. Calib and Peyton had terrible side effects, and felt horrible. I felt medium bad. Asa was fine. Our highly scientific theory? Left arm = mild side effects (me and Asa), Right arm = Hefty side effects (Peyton and Calib). 

Then, a few days after we got the jab, distribution was halted because of blood clots, mostly for women, and mostly in my age group. Let me tell you, that's not great for my anxiety. But, we all made it through just fine- and we were vaccinated. Yay! 

A few weeks later, in May, Hayden (since he is only 15) was finally approved to get the vaccine as well. The only one offered for his age group, at the time, was Pfizer. So, he got the two doses and was fully vaccinated on our anniversary. 

Fast forward a few months. About a month ago, the FDA & CDC approved boosters- but only for Pfizer recipients, and only if you were older, immunocompromised, or had a high exposure job. My sister in laws (who teach), got theirs. But, any Moderna and J&J news would have to wait. 

Then, last week, the FDA & CDC announced Moderna boosters were recommended for the same groups. However, they also announced that ANYONE who got the J&J vaccine should get a booster. And, some of the studies were.... alarming. Johnson and Johnson was not holding up too well after six months. The booster for J&J would help that. 

But, there's also some studies on 'mixing and matching' vaccines. And the FDA approved that too.  So, we didn't necessarily have to get the same vaccine we got the first time around. I was hoping for this, because, although the blood clot issue is rare, it's less rare for women, and even less so for my age group. And it's not an issue in Pfizer or Moderna. So, even though the risk is minimal, why do it? Plus, the other two seem to be better long term. 

So, all four of us needed boosters. 

We avoided going the first couple days, because as we discovered when things got approved for Hayden, there were a few hiccups in the first few days (ie. Walgreens told us it hadn't been approved yet, when it had-- I should have taken this as a sign, not to go back to Walgreens, honestly). 

Anyway, we resolved to go "soon". 

But then, Peyton registered for a gaming tournament in two weekends, so while cases are at an all time low!!! (6.8 per 100,000 in my county! We can do basically anything now!), and masks will be required, and he is vaccinated... it's even better to add a little icing on that cake with a booster. So the sooner, the better. 

We made an appointment for Monday at 9:45 am at Walgreens (where Hayden got his shot) for him, and I decided I might as well get mine then too. Calib is waiting for a day off, in case he has any side effects, and Asa is on antibiotics for a sinus infection, so he figured he'd wait and get it with Calib. 

But, when we showed up at Walgreens, they were a total mess. The first woman at the counter sported her mask under her nose. When the next lady came up, she tried to check us in. We handed her our cards from our first vaccine, and she told us they weren't giving out Johnson and Johnson shots. We explained we knew, and that we were doign mix and match anyway. She told us that hadn't been approved. 

Now, when you go to the Walgreens website, it asks you about what vaccine you got first, and it explains the rules about who can get what kind of booster. When you put in that you had J&J a popup tells you how you are eligble for a booster if you're over 18, it's been at least 2 months since your shot- AND that you can mix and match it with any vaccine. ON THE WALGREENS WEBSITE. 

The woman's explanation? "The website is awful. It does weird things sometimes." I get glitches, but that's not one. So, we politely argued with her pulling up the FDA website that it was approved, until she went to talk to a supervisor. She was gone for a good five minutes, before she came back and explained that we CAN get the shot, but it's just 'so hard to keep up with everything, because it's changing all the time'. I hardly think vaccine guidance is 'changing all the time', but whatever. 

Then she put in all of our information, and kept telling us our insurance card was not any good. Asa had literally used it on Friday to do a virtual doctors visit and get antibiotics with no trouble. She claimed Peyton wasn't even on our insurance. It was all very weird. But, eventually she got it all figured out. 

She went back to get the shots, and an older guy came up and asked about getting a covid vaccine. Mask under her nose lady told him they didn't take walk ins (the website said they do), and that he would have to go home and make an appointment online (the same website they just told us was terrible). And, the thing was, there was literally NOBODY ELSE in the store. It wasn't like there was a huge line out the door. The poor guy walked away, clearly annoyed. 

Luckily, after that it went pretty smoothly. Peyton and I both got our shots, pretty quick and painless in our left arm. Peyton's seen the light of the left arm. 

A day out and we just have a couple of sore arms. I have a small headache, and am a little tired. But other than that, we're fine. It's nothing like our first dose was. Peyton, in fact, has had virtually no side effects after the horrible time he had the first time. 

So, Asa and Calib did not Walgreens for shot #2. They went to Publix and got themselves a Moderna shot. Asa grabbed an appointment for him and Calib on Thursday, since his office hours only go to noon, and Calib was off, but their appointments were a few hours apart. When Asa called that day to see if they could go together, we got the same kind of run awround about Johnson and Johnson as we got at Walgreens. The lady in the pharmacy who answered the phone had no idea any J&J recipient over 18 and two months out from their shot could get any kind of booster they wanted. She put Asa on hold for 11 minutes, came back and said 'You're right, you can get any shot you'd like". 

When they went, they got the same kind of side eyes, like 'are you really allowed to do this', but they gave them the shots anyway. I'm just so confused how pharmacies don't know these things. Like, your job is to give out this shot. It's been approved for us for a week, and you have no idea. We had to 'argue' (albeit politely) TWICE. 

But, we're all boosted so yay! And, I feel like we'll be a fun case study. Hayden has double dose of Pfizer. Peyton and I are mix and match with J&J and a Pfizer booster, and Asa and Calib are J&J with Moderna booster. So, if any of us get covid, we'll see what holds up best. 

Calib and Asa also both got their shorts in their left arm. And, no hefty side effects. In fact, just like Peyton, Calib had virtually none at all, after having a terrible time with the J&J dose the first time around. Asa had a sore arm for a couple days, and was a bit tired the next day. But, nothing too intense. And now, we can not worry about it for at least some time. 

In other news, it's been pretty quiet around here. We did hit over 200 tacos on our taco count. Those tacos on Hayden's plate are #199 & #200. 

Fun fact: when we need stuff for the taco bar, I just enlist Calib's help on Saturdays before he comes home from work. I find sending him screen shots of the stuff I want on instacart is helpful. He's like my own personal instacart shopper with none of the fees. (And yesterday, I realized the last time Calib and I texted each other about anything other than food it was my birthday). 

In other food news, sometimes I ask the guys what they want for dinner, and they come up with something that really isn't a thing. Like the other day, at lunch, when I asked what everyone wanted for dinner and Hayden announced: "Spaghetti Sandwiches". 

So, I present to you.... Spaghetti Sandwiches. 

It's sub buns made into garlic bread, topped with spaghetti, meatballs, and melted cheese under the broiler. And, it wasn't half bad. 

On Friday, Asa and I had to make a trip to Wesley Chapel. Our internet has been straight trash lately, so we finally decided to get a new modem and router. You have to go into a store to exchange them, so we've REALLY been putting it off. But, Asa made an appointment so going in was quick and easy (he bypassed all the suckers who didn't make an appointment!) And, since we were at the Groves anyway, we decided to swing by King of the Coop for lunch. On Fridays you can get extra tenders for just $1.25 a piece. Let me tell you, if you live in the Tampa area, you need to get your butt to King of the Coop. It's AMAZING. 

Hayden also made it to his first library event since March 3, 2020. Once Hayden was fully vaccinated, our library announced they were closing for a year long remodel. Now, the place is going to be awesome when it's reopened, but until then, we're kind library nomads. We're in a library desert here. Every other branch is about half an hour away in a different direction. But, we decided to give the brand new branch: Starkey Ranch, a try first. They have quite a few teen events, and since it just opened in August, it's just now getting it's group of teens for events together. 

The library is super cool, lots of open space, lots of self check out stations. It's attached to the new middle school too, with a courtyard inbetween. While Hayden went to his event, we wandered around checking it all out. Turns out, a lot of our librarian friends are displaced to this branch. One of them even showed us pictures of what it looks like inside the Land O Lakes branch now. Apparently they have 'hard hat' meetings once a week and get to go inside. The whole place is gutted, and it looks huge. Hayden, for his part, was excited to see some people he knew too!

That was all Thursday- a big day, Hayden going to the library, Asa and Calib getting a booster shot... and that morning Asa and I woke up from a text from Peyton telling us he passed his Intro to Scripting and Programming Foundations class. He doesn't really tell us when he's taking it, I think to avoid the pressure of having to tell us all. I once suggested it as a way to make it more low-key, and he's taken my advice. So, now he'll say something like 'I think I'm going to take my test soon', and then takes it when everyone is asleep. Whatever works for him. He's passing a class once every three weeks. This kid is on fire. He goes hard for a few weeks, and then gives himself a week break inbetween classes. Again, he has until the end of January to pass his last class for on-time-progress (OTP in the WGU world), so anything he does beyond four classes is gravy. 

Of course, since he passed a class, we got Taco Bell for dinner to celebrate. We brought it home on the way back from the library. 

In other news, Fantasy Football is going well for.... some of us. Everyone has their best weeks against Asa, screwing him over everytime. Everyone has their worst week against Garrett, helping him win with scores like 80 points. I, of course, am doing well, despite Christian McCaffrey on IR, but I am scraping by. It's bound to catch up with me. Calib on the other hand, lost by 2 this week after a last minute fumble (or INT) by Jimmy Garoppolo. So he tried to rename his team 'Jimmy Garoppolo is hot trash', but when you click on the league, it just comes up as 'Is Hot Trash'. Still applies. Although, I'm done hearing his whining about losing a regular season game by 2 on a last minute turnover. There was a time when I lost the SUPER BOWL to Calib by 4-TENTHS!!! of a point to Calib on a last minute Juju fumble. So, he can shut it. 

The weather is getting cooler, and we're finally getting a cold front. I'm taking this opportunity to do 'spring cleaning', which in florida is really fall cleaning. But, I've been working on the windows. I'm even going to rescreen some!  But look how nice and clean they are! 

Of course, before the "cold front" arrives we had to get in some more pool time. And of course, there's nobody ever down there this time of year. 

On the dog front, there's a new "punishment" for Porkchop when he gets barking. Hayden and Asa threaten to put him 'in the basket'. It's a basket full of blankets. Porkchop sometimes lays in it on his own. But, somehow, they think this works. It's true, he gets confused why he's getting put in a basket, that he forgets why he was barking. But, I think he kind of likes the basket, honestly. 

In other news, look at these two. I remember when Etta couldn't be in the same room with another dog. And now look at her. She's taken to laying RIGHT NEXT to Ellie. Basically, ON Ellie. And of course Ellie doesn't mind, because she's Ellie. But, look how cute they are! They're buddies. 

Next Up: Halloween 2021