So listen… we all know how DC reacts to vaccines.

He’s gotten better over the years – probably because as an adult, it is not a regular occurrence any more.

 “When he was younger and had to have a vaccination, I had to bring reinforcements to the Doctor’s office. Most of the time we had, his Dad, Doug, me, the assistant and the doctor in the examination room. No one could hold him, no one. It was exhausting and even with all of us trying to hold on to him, the doctor would eventually have to resort to chasing him around the room until she had a semi-good shot at sticking him. I often wondered if he ever actually got everything that was in the needle.“

But since the pandemic and the three vaccines he’s already had, one might think he’d be used to it at this point.

Not the case.

He talked about it all week, mostly by pointing to his arm and saying “shot”.

That really wasn’t bad, really but I could see he was getting more anxious everyday.

The one silver lining for him was that he’d be getting his vaccine at Rite Aid Pharmacy, which is the only place where we can find silver and gold sharpies any time we’re there.

We find them sporadically in other places from time to time, but silver gold and bronze 3 pack sharpies seem to be regular stock there.

So there’s that.

Incentive.

He announced it to anyone who would listen the day before his appointment.

He announced it to me more frequently as his appointment got closer. He also recited his list of post-shot treats that he was looking forward to getting while we were there:

His markers, of course.

Band-aids

Cheese-Its – Spicy

I have to say that for the first time, even though I always fill out my forms on-line … for the VERY FIRST TIME, I did not have to fill them out again and be spoken to as if I am some old woman who has no idea how to “work the internet” and that I must be confused between making my appointment online and filling out the forms and uploading the front and back of my (or DC’s) insurance card.

I could really go on and on about this place but I will spare you.

(This was one of the times I was ready to lose my mind and they wanted me to tell them what the problem was, but no one has that much time. One of these days – when I get my list together, I will.)

Sounds like we need to do a lot better. Can you please DM us with more information so we can help?

— Rite Aid (@riteaid) May 31, 2022

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We sat down and waited for our turn. There was only one other person waiting and he was doing his best to pretend not to notice DC repeating:

“I am very nervous about this.”

“I am brave”

“Just a little pinch”

“Won’t hurt at all”

“I am scared”

“Very nervous about this”

But when he broke in to prayer, the man couldn’t contain himself and burst out laughing along with me.

I really tried not to laugh because I didn’t want DC to think that I wasn’t taking his concerns seriously, but praying was THE LAST THING I expected! We are not religious. He must get that from his grandmother.

The man was called in for his vaccine and came out in less than a minute.

He made sure to come over to DC and tell him that it did not hurt at all.

DC repeated that and seemed to be happy to know that even though I had been telling him the same thing over and over gain – but who am I?

We were next.

DC was anxious but the pharmacist knew that. I suppose he heard him going on and on.

He was so fast with the shot that DC just about missed it even though he was looking right at it.

(The thing about DC is that even though he is terrified, he HAS to watch. Most people turn their heads, but DC has to see).

It was over in 30 seconds and in true DC fashion he left the office as if he were a celebrity responding to his fans.

Waving Wildly and yelling, “Good Bye Sir”

Still waving and yelling to the pharmacy in general – “Good Bye Ladies!”

And off we went to pick up the items on his list.

He is absolutely fine. No fever, no side effects and still making sure anyone he sees, knows that he is brave.

It has certainly been a minute since I have posted anything about DC here.

After a year and and almost a half of being at home due to the pandemic, I started back at work a couple of days a week back in July (2021).

I have to admit that I got used to being home and I am finding it difficult managing my time since going back to work. I can’t put my finger on what the problem is, since I was able to keep up with everything before the pandemic while working full time, but this is the way it is – for now.

I am sure I will get back in the groove at some point, but right now I feel as if time management is a long lost skill.

I have so many stories and ideas in my head but I just haven’t made the time to write anything or finish writing anything down.

But…

since Halloween is a staple here at Taking it a Step at a Time, I figured I could at least get that “on paper” (and to be honest, I started writing this post before Thanksgiving and now it is January, mid-February, March, mid-April, mid June, late July, August, early September, October. Time management – Fail) .

This year (2021) was different, but only in the way that DC did not even mention Halloween until the beginning of October. Usually we are choosing costumes in August.

He also chose to wear two “rerun” costumes.

One was a character he had worn years ago, but it was one of those one piece all in one jumpsuits. This year he picked the “real thing”.

The other was an actual rerun costume that I had to buy a million pieces for because there was no such thing (and almost no one knew who he was). It doesn’t look it but it took a lot of work gluing and sewing bolts or cogs (?) to everything.

He was excited when it finally did enter his head and although there was not as much going on as in past years, the activities that were happening, were in person (masking protocols in place or outdoors) and not on a computer screen in the kitchen.

Two of the parties that we usually attend, Camp and Best Buddies, were scheduled on the same day.

Fortunately they were scheduled with enough time in between for us to be able to attend both.

****

“DC has two Halloween parties to attend today. My very first thought was of the last time we attempted to do a Halloween party marathon. We only made it to the first of the three that were scheduled, due to the Halloween nor’easter of 2011. When I texted *Tonya about trying to do both; her reply was “Double header. That sounds doable. No storms expected?” It’s funny how things stay with you.(Link to that storm here). It’s cloudy today but no storms in sight. Fingers crossed.” Facebook October 23, 2021

****

There was enough time between to get to both but not enough for a costume change, so DC was Woody for both parties. He was Woody back in 2010, but this was the “real” Woody, according to him.

They had fun at Best Buddies. DC’s buddies did not show up but that is a story for another day.

The Moms?

We waited in line for coffee for the entire run of the party. After which I felt the need to announce to everyone waiting for us that I was the calm one (No details, but just know that I am not usually the calm one!)!

We determined that we’d have plenty of time to stop for lunch on the way to the next party at camp. We decided to stop at a place half way between the party we just left and camp. Historically this place is never busy. Never.

We pulled into the parking lot and as we were getting out of the car, an entire motorcycle club pulled in right behind us. We weren’t all that concerned. We still had plenty of time.

Famous last words…

It was a ‘de-aster’ – as DC would say. We waited a long time for our orders. DC’s was completely wrong and we had to start the whole process all over again and Sally locked herself in the restroom, but we did finally make it out of there and made it to camp.

DC and Salli were not phased by any of this, but Tanya and I were ready for a vacation.

We had to settle for coffee, but this time there were no lines and we were able to sit and relax for a good hour or more. By that time, I could do nothing but laugh at the events of the day.

Trust me. It was much worse than I can describe here.

DC was thrilled by a surprise visit from ‘Ron”.

AND…

He found his pumpkin on his own. He did not give up and just grab a random pumpkin with someone else’s number and we had no 9 vs. 6 issues (as in the past with 12 and 21) – it was his number.

Progress.

(Since it is already October, we have our Halloween 2022 party schedule and Best Buddies and Camp are again on the same day – so we get to do this all over again. We should probably just bring our own coffee for the first party. Ya think?)

There was a new addition to our Halloween activities last year.

A new used book store had opened up in town. I had kept that information from DC for a good year (?) because, you all know that as much as I love how much he loves books – there is just no room for any more. Every open space in our house is full of DC’s books. AAAAND, I did not want to have to listen to him begging to go to the book store any more than I already do, knowing there was one right here in town. I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep it a secret forever, but it wasn’t difficult during the pandemic (yes, I do understand that it is not over, but you know what I mean) since we weren’t going all that many places anyway.

The bookstore along with the other stores in the complex, organized a “Haunted Trail” that went along the sidewalks of all of the shops. It was pretty cool and I hope they do it again this year.

DC opted to re-use his “Time Keeper, Spy Kids – All The Time In the World” costume (yes, we must say the entire title) from a few years back. I was glad because I was pretty proud of putting that one together at the time.

It was fun and of course – there was the bookstore. The secret was out!

On to Halloween Night:

DC’s friend, BB (above in the Spiderman costume) joined us for the first time on Halloween night.

DC’s costume choice? Dimitri from Anastasia.

Yes, ANOTHER guy in a suit.

As usual, no one knew who he was, but he was happy to be Dimitri. I did get him an Anastasia tote bag to trick or treat with to make him more identifiable. It did not do the trick, but that’s okay; one must have a matching Halloween bag anyway (Halloween rule: #2).

They ate pizza at *Coach and *Candi’s house and trick or treated afterward.

They always have a good time together.

So there it is… finally! Halloween 2021.

We’ll be back in a few weeks for 2022.

We are READY!

*****

In case you are curious – Halloween Rule #1 is: Wear as much clothing underneath your costume to keep you warm. NEVER wear a coat OVER your costume.

For Past Halloweens – Visit our Halloween Page