I managed to keep my jetlag almost entirely at bay by slogging excessively around the house all day, and then reading a book from approximately eight p.m. until now -- I didn't even take a nap today, as much as I might have wished for one. I woke up several times last night, but forced myself to stay in bed until 7:30; then, I got up, showered, and made terrific progress unpacking all of my books. The books are stacked two-deep on every available shelf, and I intend to get another set or two of shelves to alleviate the burden (since I'm sure to acquire more books in the coming months, and there are two boxes of Regency-era research books that I didn't unpack), but it's a good start.
After unpacking the books, I finally ordered Comcast service; they will arrive on Tuesday to set me up, at which point the clock will start ticking on the end of whatever promotional offer they gave me so that I ultimately end up paying hundreds of dollars on internet and television, but the satellite card that I'm using leaves much to be desired (there are a lot of mature trees surrounding my house, so I think the signal is struggling) -- I can't keep going without real internet access, and being able to watch Craig Ferguson again would be nice. Then, I took a quick jaunt to Crate and Barrel to salivate over their furnishings; I didn't order anything, but I'm getting closer to deciding what shelves I want, and I intend to order them before I go to Japan so that they can be delivered as soon as I get back.
I took a break from all things house-related to grab a sandwich at Quiznos (they're renaming my favorite sandwich -- what was the 'turkey bacon guacamole' is suddenly the 'california club', which seems completely unnecessary to me). Then, I walked down to Printers' Ink cafe, where I enjoyed a cafe au lait while spending an hour working on Madeleine and Ferguson's story. It's slow going trying to get back into it, but I can't keep procrastinating on it if I'm going to finish before the romance conference. On the way home, I stopped to pick up some essentials (basically, three servings of Amy's enchiladas, and some bread, ham and cheese for sandwiches), and then settled in for some more epic unpacking.
My kitchen is now almost entirely unpacked; I still have a couple of boxes to go, but it's looking much, much better. I also hauled several loads of empty boxes out to the garage, unpacked my suitcase from my Europe trip, and tidied up the living room, so the place is feeling like it's starting to come together (if you don't look at the huge pile of stuff hanging out in the dining area). If I can focus over the next few days, it should be almost entirely unpacked before I go to Japan -- which would be good, since coming home to a disaster yesterday was distinctly unpleasant.
I finally stopped unpacking around eight p.m., and I ate an Amy's enchilada before picking up a book that I found while unpacking -- "The Convenient Marriage" by Georgette Heyer. While I've read at least a score of Heyer's books, I'd never read this one; I'd ordered it sometime in the past, and somehow never got around to picking it up. I ended up reading it straight through, even though I had set an alarm to remind myself to go to bed (which I promptly dismissed, as I was in the middle of a chapter when it went off, and I didn't bother to check the time again). I would give it four stars out of five; some of the dialogue and a lot of the situations were vastly entertaining, and I loved the hero. It did drag a bit in the end, and I felt like she got too wrapped up in her own cleverness with some side plots and didn't give us enough of the relationship between the two characters; but since she was writing in the first half of the century, she never included sex anyway, so her structure and pacing is v. different from present-day romances. This one seemed like a combination of the irrepressible heroine from "The Grand Sophy" and the sleepy-seeming (but actually razor-sharp) heroes of "The Unknown Ajax" and "The Masqueraders" -- so I liked it, but any of the three i just mentioned were more enjoyable books.
Anyway, I really should go to sleep; I have a lot to do at work tomorrow and I don't want to get home late because I desperately need to do laundry. Of course, since I now live less than twenty minutes from work, that shouldn't be too much of a concern (yay). Goodnight!
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