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7:03 PM, Wednesday, November 3rd, 2021:   No words needed...     ...ok, maybe a few words. Now that I'm done crying.   So the past week has been trying to find anywhere we could get them their first shot as soon as humanly possible. Things started to open up yesterday but it was all for appointments starting Monday. We made those appointments, but kept looking for sooner. It felt like trying to score a PS5 to be honest (and I don't even want one - VR and Nintendo is life). Site after site... mommy groups - everything. Then we saw a pop-up site at Union Station that would take appointments for 5-11. 10:00 am, this morning... but it's downtown. Then we heard of a pharmacy in Hollywood doing it with no appointments... I called last night and asked if they were doing 5-11 year old vaccines tomorrow and they said YES. So we figured we'd go there first, and if for some reason that didn't happen we'd go downtown where we had an apointment. WE GOT THIS.   So we're off. We get to the pharmacy at 9:30 and they hadn't received the vaccine - they were waiting on the shipment to come in. Might be this afternoon. I don't exactly understand this as the kids just get 1/3 the dose, so.... can't you measure that shit out? Oh well - it's an adventure day so we start to drive downtown. Meanwhile, Talya is texting with her mommy friend who got a 9:30 am appointment downtown and she says: "They're turning everyone away - they haven't received the vaccines either, they'll get them this afternoon."   Well fuck.   However, ya know what's fun? An adventure downtown with the kids. We'll park somewhere, run around downtown and then be ready that afternoon. We were getting this vaccine today. We get there, park, go talk to the peeps and they say... nope. Nothing today - come back tomorrow at the same time as your appointment... which makes no fucking sense because that whole day was available to be booked as well, so now they'll be double booked all day tomorrow.   Well shitty shit. So we figure we'll just drive home and keep searching... worst case is we get it tomorrow. But here's why that sucks. Tomorrow would mean their 2nd shot falls on Thanksgiving... which means it would get delayed and who knows what would be open that weekend. Getting it today is perfect presuming the kids feel kinda crappy after the shot - it's Thanksgiving. All we do is lay around and watch TV and eat anyway. Perfect.   So we keep searching with no luck - apparently no one was prepared for it to be today. The CDC was supposed to meet yesterday and today with tomorrow being the earliest first appointment - but things opened up a little soon and the sites themselves were unprepared. On the main "My Turn" site it wasn't even an OPTION for their age group yet.   Then, incredibly - Talya gets a link to "My Turn" that bypasses the main site and allowed appointments at Children's Hospital - NOW. It's 11:30 and I could've made an appointment at 11:30. What the hell. We make it for 1pm but I know this is the same issue with the other places and that they probably don't have the vaccine yet... but if any place is going to? The hospital will. And for the love of fuck - can they not put different doses in a syringe? They can't do 10ccs instead of 30ccs? I have to think they can. I call the hospital and they're confused as to how I even made the appointment but a lady said "If you made it, you're good." "But do you have the vaccines for 5-11?" "Yes."   Ooooooook. So we load the kids up again, this time with Oma so she can hang out in the car so we don't have to deal with parking. We run in and the room they tell us to go to has no other kids in it. Then we walk into the room where they give the shot... it's all nurses and doctors - no patients. What the fuck is this. I am certain this is a mistake, and once they realize their ages we will be turned away. They ask me for Cameron's name and birthday... they start typing it in and act like everything is fine. And that's when I cried. I made it a good long time, but the moment they knew that dude was born in 2013 and didn't say "I'm sorry sir, it's 12 and up" - I got choked up and had to hug him to regain my composure. This was happening and hell we're in a hospital. Could there be a safer place to get a vaccine?   And then it's all a blur. Cam took it like a champ. Vienna, as you saw, jumped a bit but that dude was a pro and followed her perfectly. 6 hours later Cam has zero symptoms, not even a sore arm - Vienna's arm is a little sore. My neurotic mind wonders if that's because Vienna has a normal immune system and Cam, as we know, does NOT... but I'll save that worry for after the 2nd shot. If Cam has no reaction whatsoever, I have to admit that will be concerning considering his history. Time will tell.   But - we made it. We honestly had one job as parents of a immuno-compromised kid during a pandemic: get them to their first shot before they get COVID. That's it. It was really, really fucking hard. It's done. They will be returning to school on November 16th and I'll get into that in the next entry which will probably be them saying goodbye to an even shittier shit school than last year. How the hell is that even possible.   WHAT AN AWFUL YEAR. Man 2021 was harder than 2020. I mean, wow. But we did it!!!!! Talya we did it!!!! I can't believe we did it.   Adam