One more week down, again a very busy week in work but thankfully with far less worries. Life My last couple of months were very busy with work, since I started a new project. While there's more coming up over the next few weeks, I am also hoping that maybe I have passed the point where it stops being a part of every waking moment and allow me to be able to read without interrupting thoughts fluttering around in my head. We'll see. We got enough snow yesterday for the kids to be able to play and make a snow man. All the snow melted by noon but we are getting more overnight so hopefully there's more snow fun to be had. Reading After not being able to stay with a book long enough to be pulled into it for the past couple of weeks, I was desperately looking for a book that was both a fast read and also one that I would love. That was a high bar to meet even under the best of circumstances, but luckily, yesterday morning, I found just the book. I devoured Meichi Ng's Bare

So it's smack in the middle of this long weekend, and I've been catching up on my sleep a lot! Plus being my birthday weekend, there's an added lightness to the days. After a really busy yet productive week, I'm quite relieved for this three-day break. Well, there is typically nothing called a holiday for graduate students, but I've lived by that rule for a long time, that I don't particularly care to break it off now.
The best news for me this week was that I finally managed to get most of my thesis done. I now have a lot of fine-tuning to do, but since I've written quite a lot, I don't need to exercise my grey cells more than needed. I'm beginning to catch the butterflies in my stomach, since there's only a month now for me to graduate. I'll be deciding the dates this week with my advisor.
I wanted to spotlight a particular challenge that my blogging friend Helen @ Helen's Book Blog has created. The Middle East Reading Challenge is for those of you interested in literature set in the Middle East. We all know of many such books, and some of us have loved books like Arabian Nights, Persepolis, I am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced, Day After Night, and City of Veils, or plan to read them. So here's my challenge entry. Helen has a great list of recommendations at her blog for this challenge, and since most of them are in my TBR, I'm going to jump into this challenge. (Moreover, I've decided that henceforth, I'll mainly sign up for challenges that expand my reading matter-wise.) The best part of this challenge is that you can choose any number of books you want to read. It runs August 1, 2010 through July 31, 2010. I'll decide my books over the next few weeks, but I'll recommend that you join in too!
Happy 4th of July to my US readers! Happy Sunday to the rest of the world!
And if you haven't yet entered my Birthday giveaway, what are you waiting for?

Comments
It's awesome that you finished your thesis. Hope you're enjoying your break :)
Roseann, thanks! I'm glad this weekend was a real breather!
Ash, I've learned the same lesson too! Took me some trial and error to learn that.
Helen, that's precisely what I am looking to gain from challenges. I've noticed that I've joined a few easy challenges - time to prioritize.
Linna, thank you so much! I sure had a wonderful birthday! :)
Emidy, that challenge sure sounds good to me too! I can't wait to get cracking!