Hump Day

Not too much to report for today.

When I woke up this morning, I noticed that Steven had washed a couple of dishes for us last night. Yay! What a great way to start the day! We also got to talk to Jer, Jen, Adam, and Zach on Skype this morning. So, so great to see them. We miss them all so much!

Brandon and I went to Royce Gym this morning after we left Steven at the train. He loves playing there, and I always find nice people to chat with while our kids play. Today, I spoke to a friendly mom from South Africa. She has been here for four years. Her son is 16 months old. It's really nice when I can meet people who have kids right near Brandon's age.

When we got back home, Brandon played on his own for a while. I was happy about that because I didn't want him to take his nap too early. When he does this, he crashes so early at night.

Housekeeping came by before Brandon's nap and that kept him entertained for a while. He was so interested in watching the maid clean and, especially, vacuum!

Last weekend, our cable company, Starhub, changed its channel lineup. When it did, we lost most of our channels for some reason. So, for the last few days, we haven't really had much tv. Starhub sent a technician out this afternoon to check our issue. They gave us a new cable box, and we are up and running again. Maybe I can catch American Idol on Star World tonight!

We went down to the pool this afternoon, but we didn't change into our suits. The last couple of times we've gone down to the pool, Brandon hasn't been that interested in swimming. He just wants to walk around and make his best effort at getting past me to the tennis courts. It was sooo hot out. Jo bought a cake today for Dino's (security guard) birthday. After a quick little birthday celebration, we headed back inside.

We had plans to meet Steven downtown for dinner tonight. We usually take the train down, but I was worried that even a ten minute walk to the train station might be too much for Brandon. Since our ER visit over the weekend, I have been very, very cautious with Brandon. I just don't want that to happen again, and he still isn't 100%.

It is always so good to see Steven for dinner. We were able to take a nice little walk together, as well as enjoy a meal together.

Brandon and I were able to take the train home as it had cooled a bit in the evening. We made a quick stop for some diapers and milk on the way home. We got home a bit after dark. It felt good to walk home at dark. A nice change from being out in the sun.

Brandon is starting to talk more. Today, he said "dog". Words he can say now - "ma ma", "da da", "bye bye", "mum mum", "hi", "more", "ball", "dog". Sometimes, I think he can say "yeah", but not completely sure about that one. So cool to hear him talk. I think I love it even more when he gibber gabbers at me. I know he is trying to say something, and it's so cute to watch him try to communicate. I especially love how he talks with inflection in his voice and personality. Sometimes he will even point and shake his finger at me while he is talking. Such passion for such a little person. :)

American Club

This morning Brandon and I walked down Orchard Road after dropping Steven off at the train station. We were on our way to the American Club to meet a friend.









They are setting some booths up on Orchard Road with advertisements for the Youth Olympic Games. The games will be here in mid-August. There is also a large clock on the corner of Orchard and Paterson that is counting down the time until the games begin. If you can't see the picture well enough, it says that there are 102 days until the Olympics. I don't walk past this clock every day, but I think it read that there were 139 days until August 14th when we got here. Actually, the time has passed rather quickly!



I also took a picture of the nutmeg sculpture in front of the Orchard Ion today. I've seen the sculpture, but I've never really taken the time to stop and investigate it. Why a nutmeg? Apparently, the mall's building site use to be a nutmeg plantation. Orchard Road also takes its name from the orchard and nutmeg plantations that were located on that site in the early 19th century before commercial development. Good to learn a bit of local history.



































Brandon and I got to the American Club a little earlier, so I let Brandon run around in the lobby while we waited for our friends. While we were waiting, my mobile rang. I almost didn't answer it, because I didn't recognice the number. I'm so glad I did though! It was Dr. Chiang. At first, I was worried that he wanted to see Brandon for some reason. However, he just called to give me the names of some great parks to take Brandon to here. We were talking about this at the appointment yesterday, and Dr. Chiang couldn't remember the names of a couple of the parks. I was so impressed that he not only remembered, but he also took the time to pick up the phone and call me. Wow. He could have even waited until next Monday's follow-up appointment to tell me, but he didn't. So, so nice!

Brandon and I enjoyed our time at the American Club today. They have a very nice playroom, and Brandon loves playing with new toys! They also have a great lunch menu, and we enjoyed a nice lunch by the pool with our friends afterwards.
















I wanted to get home before Brandon's nap, but I was also trying to wait until close to 1 pm to get back. There was some building maintenance going on today, so they had our air conditioning off until 1 pm. I really didn't want Brandon taking a nap in a room with no a/c, especially in this heat! Luckily, the air was back on when we returned.







This afternoon, Jo, Jake, and Jessie came down to visit for a while. They have been such a blessing to me here! Brandon and I love their company!


A couple of neat things Brandon did today -


When he got up from his nap, he was a little cranky and laid his head on my shoulder. After a couple of minutes, I asked him if he wanted to turn the light on. He popped his head right up and pointed at the light switch. Just so cool when I know that he understands something I say.


Brandon was playing with a red transparent baby wipe case today. He was holding it up over his face. I saw him look up at the lights on the ceiling through the case. He must have noticed that he was seeing red because then he kept moving the case on and off of his face. He was looking at the lights without the case and then through the case. So fun to watch Brandon learn and discover his world!

Date with Brandon

Pictures -

Din Tai Fung's steamed pork dumplings

Marche - A usual morning stop

Ya Kun Kaya Toast

This morning Brandon slept until 7:15 am. Yay! Lately, he has been getting up around 6 or 6:30. So early! :) Steven asked me the other morning why Brandon doesn't like to sleep in on the weekends. We both just laughed!

I decided that we would still walk Steven to the train this morning. Brandon definitely wanted to go out, and it's not too long of a walk to the train. After we parted ways with Steven, I decided to try something new for breakfast. Ya Kun Kaya Toast is a chain restaurant which sells kaya toast, a favorite snack here in Singapore. Kaya is a green spread/jam made of eggs, sugar, and coconut milk and flavored with pandan. It is spread on toast, often with butter. Pretty good! The spread was sweet, but light. I also didn't think that the coconut overpowered the flavor too much. I'll eat coconut, but I'm not a huge coconut fan. Not sure I could really even taste the coconut. I'll definitely have some kaya toast again.

As it was still early and not unbearably hot, Brandon and I walked to Mt. Elizabeth Hospital for his follow-up appointment with Dr. Chiang. It was just a ten minute walk from the train station.

I really like Dr. Chiang so far. He checked Brandon and said that his lungs sound much better. He wants us to continue the breathing treatments and cold and cough medicines for one week, and he asked that we come back in one week for another follow-up. It sounds like Brandon had a cold, as well as some allergies, asthma, and/or bronchitis.

Brandon weighs about 10 kg still, which is just over 22 pounds. He was 77 cm long at the appointment today, which is just under 30 1/2 inches. His temperature was normal today (36.8 degrees Celsius under the arm. 37 degrees Celsius is normal.)

Dr. Chiang told me that he went to medical school in Singapore, but he studied in England for one year, as well. His son went to medical school at Duke University in the States. (I specify where because I think there is a branch of Duke University Medical School here in Singapore.) His daughter is an attorney here in Singapore. Dr. Chiang has three grandchildren. He had many pictures of them in his office. It is good to feel that your child's pediatrician really does love children and his profession. Makes me trust his decisions even more.

Next week, when we go back to Dr. Chiang, he will run labs on Brandon's bloodwork. Not looking forward to that. But, we need to see if Brandon's iron is up since we started giving iron supplements at 12 months when he was classified as anemic. Also, I am anxious to check that all of his labs look good.

Since it was still a good hour before Brandon's nap, I decided to go into the Paragon before heading home. The hospital is located just behind the mall, and I thought that Brandon would enjoy a nice play at the playground on Level 5. He was so happy when I got him out of the stroller to play!

After Brandon played for a while, we were both hungry for lunch. Rather than trying to get him home and make him something to eat, I decided that we would have lunch together at Din Tai Fung. I was craving xiao long bao (steamed pork dumplings)! We have been to Din Tai Fung before. Supposedly, Din Tai Fung, Taiwanese cuisine, was ranked as one of the world's Top Ten Best Restaurants by The New York Times. Delicious!!! I don't know that I've ever taken Brandon to a sit down restaurant by myself before. Luckily, he was in a good mood, hungry, and the food came quickly. He loved the pork dumplings and the pork and egg fried rice. I was so happy that Brandon ate the egg. He hasn't wanted egg before! Not that I needed the caffeine, but I also enjoyed the hot jasmine tea that was served with lunch. Mmmmmm...

After our nice lunch date, Brandon and I took a cab home. The Paragon isn't far at all from our apartment, but I just didn't want to overdo it. The cab ride was fast, cheap, and cool. The best decision.

After Brandon's nap, Jo, Jessie, and Jake stopped by, and then we all headed down to the pool. Brandon wasn't really in the mood to swim today. He just wanted to walk around the pool, and then he wanted to go to the tennis courts. I didn't want to let Brandon run around on the courts today though. I figured that he would run around too much which could bother his chest congestion. Also, there are so many trees around the courts that I was worried about any allergies that would complicate his breathing. So, as the pool wasn't as exciting today, we headed back inside.

I've been having a little trouble getting Brandon to eat vegetables. So, today I thought I would try giving Brandon a jar of baby food vegetables. He ate the whole thing! It's not something I'll do all of the time, but I was just so happy that he ate the vegetables. Maybe I'll start mushing up his vegetables...???

After eating and changing out of our wet swimsuits, we headed down to Jo's for a while. Jo had said that Jessie was having a little trouble with her math, and I volunteered to help Jessie with her assignment that is due tomorrow. Jessie is in 3rd grade, and her homework involved her finding the perimeter and area of figures. She also had a couple of questions about the number of faces, vertices, and edges in some 3D figures. And, I was impressed to see a problem that involved the net drawing of a cube. I'm looking forward to getting into a school or two here for some observations. Really hope I can find a time to do this!

Mum's Day Celebration

Pictures -

Singapore desserts - I didn't take this picture. I pulled it from the internet. However, these are some of the desserts that we were served at our Mum's Day celebration

Baby Bites - aka Mum Mums in the U.S. Notice that these are Chicken with Vegetable Flavor! Don't have this kind in the U.S.!

Baby cereal - Heinz in one of the main brands I've seen for baby food here in Singapore. I wonder why Heinz doesn't market and sell baby food back home?

This morning Brandon seemed to be doing much better. I was so relieved! I could still tell that he had some chest congestion, and his nose was very runny in the morning. However, he wasn't weezing, and it didn't sounds like his chest was rattling. His breathing had definitely slowed down too.

I wanted Brandon to take it easier today. Since he was itching to get out of the apartment a couple of hours after waking, I took him down to the pool. It was definitely hot outside already (at 10:30 am), but there was some shade over the pool. Also, the pool water was cool, and it was so refreshing. I think I even felt a nice breeze a few times! :) Jo, Jake, and Jessie came down to the pool for a bit, which helped entertain Brandon and me. He doesn't really enjoy the pool if there are no other people down there. I also walked Brandon over to the tennis courts where some older boys were playing. Brandon was so intrigued. He watched them hit the ball back and forth. I'll be very surprised if Brandon isn't interested in sports when he is older.

While Brandon was napping, Mommy was able to go down to the pool by herself! First time since we've been here! Steven was working from home, so I enjoyed a nice thirty minutes actually swimming and lounging down at the pool. A vacation!

At 3 pm, Steven spent some time playing with Brandon, so I could go down to the Mother's Day celebration that our apartment manager had organized. It was wonderful! There were probably 10 - 15 other moms from our building there. We each received a hot pink carnation with a hot pink ribbon which had our name painted on it. We were served tea and desserts. Yum! Some of the desserts were local desserts that are served at high teas here. For example, I had dadar gulung, an Indonesian pandan pancake with coconut filling. (In the dessert picture above, these are at the far left - the green rolls) Pandan is a tree that grows in Asia, and the leaves from the tree are sweet. The leaves are used to make a pandan paste that flavors desserts.

There was also had a huge chocolate cake for us. So yummy! I didn't have my camera with me, but we did take a group picture of all of us mums. I will have to get a copy e-mailed to me and post it later.

We were treated in style today! I had a nice manicure down by the pool before heading back up to see Steven and Brandon. So thankful for Mum's Day, one week early! :)

This evening, we went to Tanglin Mall for dinner and grocery shopping. We enjoyed food at Chili's. A nice taste of home...

Labour Day, Istana, and the ER

Pictures -

Istana

Note - The snake and the iguana were part of a special exhibit today







I hope that this is the craziest day we have while we're here. Don't know how many of these I can handle!

This morning, Brandon was soooo cranky! I tried to talk to my mom and dad on Skype, and I couldn't hear them over Brandon's fussing. He was up coughing last night, and I just figured that he was tired. His teeth also seemed to be bothering him. Steven asked if we should take him to the doctor, but I didn't think so. His cough wasn't too frequent, and it was a dry cough.

So, when Steven left for work, I figured that I would take Brandon for a walk. I didn't want to take him out if he wasn't feeling well, but sometimes he just wants to go out and do and see something other than our apartment. The stroller instantly seemed to calm Brandon down. I still wasn't sure how good he was feeling as he wasn't very interested in any food, even the yogurt melts that Grandma B sent. And, those are his favorite!

Amanda had told me that on a few public holidays here in Singapore, the President's house is open to the public. Today, Labour Day, was one of those days. The Istana is the official residence of the President of the Republic of Singapore, and it's located on Orchard Road. "Istana" means "palace" in Malay. It wasn't a far walk to the palace, so we headed there. The grounds were a tropical paradise! A huge golf course, swans, ponds, water fountain, etc. Gorgeous!

Before we even made it to see the actual "house", Brandon was starting to get fussy. I saw that there was a playground set up on the grounds, so I thought that letting Brandon run around there before seeing the house would be a good idea. As I figured, he loved it! He went down the slides, played in the small house, and ran down the hill.

Unfortunately, it was sooo hot outside that I could only let Brandon run free for about ten minutes. I checked weather.com when I got home. It was about 90 degrees, and it felt about 100 degrees! Ouch!

Brandon wasn't very crazy about being back in his stroller, and it was uncomfortably hot at this point. I decided that a quick look at the house was sufficient. No need to see the interior. I heard that the part of the house open today showcased some gifts to Singapore from other countries.

Brandon had a meltdown in the stroller on the way home. I felt so bad. He was crying, which made his face bright red and made him cough more. People were staring at us. I'm sure they were thinking that I was a crazy lady for having my coughing kid out in this heat. I just wanted to get home as quickly as possible. I even ran part of the way in my dress and sandles...

When I got home, I put Brandon down for his nap. He had a lot of trouble sleeping because he was coughing so much at this point. I was a little worried, so I called my friend Amanda to find out who her daughter's pediatrician is. I thought I could at least call and make an appointment, and then evaluate Brandon when he woke up from his nap. I called two doctor's offices, but they were closed for the holiday. I was told that my only option today would be the ER if I felt that Brandon really needed to get in.

When Brandon woke up from his nap, he was breathing very rapidly, and he was weezing. It also seemed that his cough had become "wet" and had gone to his chest. His chest was rattling. I was very scared when Brandon was struggling to breathe. I called Steven at work and told him to get a cab, come pick us up, and take us to the hospital ER.

We made it to the ER in about twenty minutes. It was only about a ten minute cab ride from our place to Mt. Elizabeth Hospital.

I was very impressed with our experience at the ER. As soon as we walked in, someone was there to check Brandon's vitals. They said that his chest was very congested, and they gave him a breathing treatment. Brandon did NOT like this! It took three of us to hold him down. He is so strong, and he used all of his strength to fight us. After a few minutes, he did quit fighting, but wow, it was hard! The breathing treatment did seem to help. It was a steroid that dilated Brandon's airways to help him breathe.

We did request to see a pediatrician when given the option. We wanted someone to look Brandon over more thoroughly.

Dr. Chiang arrived about 30 minutes after the breathing treatment. He checked Brandon over and said that Brandon had a bad cold and some kind of asthmatic symptoms, which was possibly bronchitis. I feel like Brandon might be having some issues getting use to the air here. I've noticed that he has had several small coughs and runny noses since we've been here. Could he have some allergies here? No telling. We will have to be more careful having Brandon outside when he has small colds, especially in the heat.

Dr. Chiang told us that our two options were to admit Brandon overnight so they could continue giving the breathing treatments and monitor him or to take him home with a small breathing treatment we could give on our own. We really weren't sure what to do. We asked Dr. Chiang if we could take Brandon home for a couple of hours, monitor him there, and bring him back if he wasn't any better. Dr. Chiang was fine with that. He prescribed a cough medicine, a cold medicine (antihistamine), and a couple of breathing treatments (one that dilated the airways and one anti-inflammatory).

In Singapore, the doctor's offices have the pharmacies in them. So, the doctor writes your prescriptions, and they are filled right then. No need to stop at a pharmacy later. Very cool.

When we got home, we gave Brandon the cold and cough syrups. They made him drowsy, and he fell asleep at 5:30 pm. We planned to touch base with Dr. Chiang by 8 pm, but Brandon was still sleeping. We checked Brandon very frequently while he was sleeping. It seemed that while he was still breathing heavily and rapidly, the weezing and rattling had stopped. I called Dr. Ching at 8 pm. He suggested letting Brandon sleep and touching base again at 10 pm. When Brandon woke up at 8:30 pm, we did the breathing treatments. They seemed to help. Brandon played on his own very happily for a while.

Right at 10 pm, Dr. Chiang called. Very impressed. It made me feel like he really was concerned and cared about Brandon. He said that it seemed fine to keep Brandon at home, but he made us an appointment to go in Monday morning to see him. He wants to do a follow-up to see how Brandon is progressing. Brandon didn't have any fever during the day, but at night Brandon had a fever of 100.5 degrees Fahrenheit, which is about 38 degrees Celsius. Dr. Chiang just recommended giving Ibuprofen.

Brandon went back down to bed for the night at 11:30 pm. Just one of those days!

I am so happy that Brandon is okay. Steven and I were both so worried. Not only was it scary, but we are far away from home. Just makes it a little scarier dealing with something like this in a foreign country, even though the medicine here is very good.

Oh, and I shouldn't forget to mention that the whole ER visit, medicines, etc. cost us SGD$420 ($300 U.S.). I was prepared with Brandon's medical records when we went to the hospital, but I forgot to bring our travel insurance information. When we returned from the ER, we looked into our coverage. We can mail in our receipt and submit a claim to get reimbursed. Hopefully, we can get reimbursed for 90% of the costs. But, if not, then no big deal. It was definitely worth going! (We were a little hesitant to admit Brandon overnight without knowing our coverage. Of course, we would have done it if necessary. We did find out that 90% of our costs today should be covered too. Also, the hospital we went to has a relationship with our insurance carrier, so in the future, we shouldn't be billed until after the visit when the hospital and insurance settle their part.)

We are so thankful that our baby is okay!!!

Holland Village

This morning, we all enjoyed some bread at Marche before waving "bye bye" to Daddy. Yum! There are several bread shops over here that are so delicious!


After leaving the train station, Brandon and I walked down Orchard Road to Ngee Ann City. There is a post office in the mall there, and we had two Mother's Day cards that needed to be mailed asap. (I know that these cards won't be a surprise now, but I wanted to mention the postage costs before I forget. Sorry, Moms!) Brandon's friend, Amelia, sent him an invitation to her first birthday party a couple of weeks ago, and it took ten days for the card to go from Chicago to Singapore. Knowing that, I planned to gets the cards mailed to the U.S. faster, as I wanted the card to make it in time. Unfortunately, it was about $25 U.S. dollars to get one card mailed to the U.S. in 3 to 4 business days. Whoaaa! Or, it was SGD$1.10 per card, which is about $.75 U.S., for 8 to 10 business days. I guess our moms will be getting their cards a few days late. Bummer!!!



After mailing the cards, Brandon and I grabbed a cab and headed to our Friday playgroup. Last week it was at the zoo, and this week is was back at someone's house. I joined this playgroup through my Chinese friend, Jasmine, that I met online the first couple of weeks I was here. It has been wonderful!



We were home this afternoon when housekeeping came by to clean. In a way, I felt like we had a little company. :) Two new faces for Brandon to see really entertained him. Laila and Earla even gave Brandon a little attention. Earla was telling me that he is here from the Phillipines on an internship. He is going to school in the Phillipines for hospitality and hotel management. He told me that he has some family in the U.S. and some in Germany. People are so "international" here. They've either lived abroad, are from abroad, or know many people abroad. Wow.



Later this afternoon, Brandon and I took a cab to Holland Village with Amanda and Kate. We wanted to explore a new area of town. Holland Village was so cute. It was a compact little center of shops and restaurants surrounded by homes/apartments. While there was a small mall we walked in, it was refreshing to see different stores than the ones we've been seing on Orchard Road. Orchard Road has many large, expensive chain stores - Prada, Marc Jacobs, etc. The stores here seemed, at least a little, less expensive than those on Orchard Road. Lots of mani/pedi salons, some children's stores, and some clothing stores that looked like they carried more "local" clothes, just to name a few.



We walked along Jalan Merah Saga, a street with some shops and restaurants. We also walked down Lorong Mambong, another street with many restaurants and bars and a hawker center. Amanda had done some research, so we had dinner at El Patio, a Mexican restaurant known for their fajitas. They were very delicious. (Put it this way, I meant to save some to bring home to Steven. That didn't happen!) I noticed that they didn't serve cheese with their fajitas. I actually didn't even miss it. Tasty!



Brandon and I took a cab home just after dark. It was nice to actually be out after dark. As we are here as parents, we haven't really seen the Singapore nightlife. Lots of people were out, and the traffic getting back in the cab was quite bad. Tomorrow is Labour Day though, and I think that many people were out late due to the public holiday the next day.



Great end to my evening - I got to talk to a couple of friends, Alma and Heather, back home on Skype. Even better, I got to see Heidi and Amelia playing together. Too bad Brandon was already in bed and had to miss them. I am so happy that we have been able to keep in touch with so many people. :)

Didn't take any pictures tonight. :( I'll be sure to get some pictures of the area the next time we're there!

American Club

Pictures -

Brandon, Michael, and Zayden at the American Club pool

Brandon learning to eat with a spoon

This morning was a little rough for me. I woke up rather homesick. :( I think that the some of the "newness" of Singapore has worn off, and I am now adjusting to the fact that this isn't just a vacation.

As we left Steven at the train station, I walked over to my friend, Amanda's, apartment. She also lives in a two bedroom serviced apartment, and I wanted to check it out. I really love our location and our neighbors, but we are interested in looking at other serviced apartments.

Amanda's apartment was so nice! Great layout, nice kitchen, and two nice bathrooms. It felt more like a home and less like a hotel than our place. That could have to do with the fact that they brought more of their things from home than we did. (They will be staying in Singapore longer than us.) Maybe I need to buy a few things that help make this feel a little more like home...

Not only was it nice seeing Amanda's apartment, but she was there to give a hug when I lost it for just a moment and had a few tears. Such a nice person, and it really did help.

Brandon and I left Amanda's and took a cab to the American Club. This week, the AWA group was meeting there because one of the moms is a member. The American Club is like a country club. It is expensive to be a member, but sometimes companies will pay all or part of the membership. Especially for those people who are staying in Singapore long term, I can see that the membership cost would be worth paying. The club has amazing facilities and events. We spent our time today at the pool. There were only three of us who could make it to the group today, and our three boys loved playing in the water! We also had a nice lunch by the pool before taking a cab home.

I could tell that Brandon was tired, but I had no idea that he would sleep for 3 1/2 hours! I actually panicked and woke him up at 4 pm. I was worried that he wouldn't want to go to bed at a reasonable hour if he kept sleeping. Wow! Even the construction noise didn't bother him today!

Since Brandon took such a long nap and there was some heavy afternoon rain, we decided to stay in for the rest of the day. We went down to Jo's apartment so Brandon could play with Jessie and Jake, and then we let the kids run around on the tennis courts for a while. Good to let Brandon run some energy out!

I saw Brandon get really scared for the first time today. It was so sad! When we were at Jake's apartment, he put on this really creepy bunny mask. Big ears, big yellow teeth. When Jake walked up to Brandon with the mask on, Brandon just dropped to the floor and let out a scream of terror. Seriously. It was a cry of panic and fear. A wide-opened mouth scream. It broke my heart. Jake took the mask off, and I showed it to Brandon. When he touched the mask, his whole body shook. I hope that he doesn't have nightmares about this bunny! I tried to show Brandon that it was just a mask... Poor thing!

Today, my dad booked a flight to Singapore!!! He will be coming on June 10th. Not too, too long from now. We are looking to book my mom a flight soon for July. Knowing that we have some company coming really made me feel better. Also, I talked to my mom and dad on Skype for an hour tonight after Brandon went to bed. So, while I woke up pretty homesick today, I will be going to bed feeling much, much better.

Glad that tomorrow is Friday. Even though Steven will have work to do this weekend, I am looking forward to the weekend!