*Insert Expletive Here*

A few days back, I thought smashing a raw egg on my desk was worth complaining about. Well boy, did I learn my lesson today. I’d smash a dozen or more eggs, on my head yet, before repeating the beginnings of this fine Wednesday.

First of all, the power went out about 1am because there were gale force winds practically ripping our house apart. Which of course meant the Hub’s snore machine went out – a major problem for poor Apneatic Hub – and hence my problem as well. We rounded up this little battery backup thing and settled back down - but had a hard time getting back to sleep because the wind was shrieking like a swarm of premenstrual banshees.

About 2:30, Incrediboy woke up in a panic because his night-light and big blue clock were out and the wind was making scary noises. I went in and calmed him down - he wanted me to stay with him but I wasn’t into that - a.) because I don’t want to start that habit and 2.) I don’t want him to get my bug if at all possible.

“Bug?”, you say? Yes, I’m sick again. Normally I’m a pretty healthy person, but I seem to have been sick a lot lately. This time I have my boss to thank, who brought home some fresh plague from Europe and promptly shared it with the rest of the office. It’s a gnarly one, too, let me tell you. I love it.

So anyway, I finally got Incrediboy settled and went back to bed when the wind got extra feisty and freaked him out again. This time, Hub got up and went in with him, thank God. I was absolutely destroyed at this point.

What seemed like 2 minutes later my travel alarm clock went off. The power was still out. Completely exhausted, stiff and freezing half to death because our furnace runs on electric and so does the waterbed. The outside temperature plummeted a good two-score in the wake of the windstorm and our house had dropped into the 50's.

I got up to take MBDog out and the snow and wind was so bad. I hurried across the deck to unlock the gate and slipped on a big ice patch compliments of the night’s freezing rain - my feet flew out from under me and I landed square on the small of my back. I didn’t even really know what happened until I heard the sound of my own wind knocking out of me with an “UUUNH!”

I lay there for a moment on my sheet of ice, in my fuzzy robe and slippers, still clutching MBDog’s leash – watching the crystalline snow swirling above me. I thought very seriously about just letting the snow cover me and releasing my tortured soul to the heavens. But MBDog was doing his peepee dance at the gate. So I forced myself up and got moving again. I knew right away I’d feel it later, tough.

So I go back in and we're all trying to get ready by flashlight, which was fun. Eventually we got out the door, forgetting Incrediboy’s day bag. Luckily it’s Grandma Day, and we were able to whisk him in there and vamoose before he figured that out (I know what sounds mean, but at least Grandma has other blankets and toys there). Just on the commute in, I could feel my back stiffening.

I’m surviving this day, though I'm exhausted from having little to no sleep, and my stiff back has been joined by a sore wrist and kinked neck - and oh yeah, our hot water tank is electric too, and since the Hub worked on the car last night I let him take the one shower the water tank might be holding - so I've had no shower either.

I wonder if traction is covered by flexible spending accounts.