In Which I Have Apparently Angered The Universe

The three days since I left the beach have been eventful.  Here, I made you a list of reasons why (surely you've realized how I feel about lists by now):

- My car is in the shop in Vienna, and my mother's (which I've been driving for a month) decided to have a melt down in North Carolina, so I drove my father's Suburban, which is easily twice the size of my little Jeep, back here.  The combination of the unfamiliar (and MASSIVE car) and a new, supposedly easier route had me lost in Norfolk for an hour and a half and turned a 5-6 hour drive into 8.

- The bag of dog food I brought back with me protested being removed from the car and retaliated by exploding as I lifted it, leaving me covered in several pounds of kibble.  I'm sure the local bears were THRILLED by that development.

- Today at the shop, something was tickling my hair, and when I reached up to dislodge it I inadvertently angered the bee that had apparently taken up residence there.  My reaction to this was so extreme that Mrs. H worriedly demanded, "Are you allergic to bee stings??" to which I maturely replied, "I am allergic to PAIN."  Then I went home and spent the rest of the afternoon alternately cradling my aching arm and whimpering, and standing with my hand in the ice box.  I may or may not have called my mother to whine in the middle of the afternoon.  Now, hours later, the pain in my arm has ebbed, but only because my thumb has swollen to twice its normal size.

- Also this afternoon, my father called to tell me my cat has been in the hospital since yesterday.

All I can think is, if this is the universe's response to my taking a vacation, then the above photo might actually have to last me the rest of my life.  I don't think my car, pets, or fingers (not to mention my wretchedly low pain tolerance) could take another three days like these.

(Random--rare--awesome tidbit from today: my supervisor paid me a visit, during which I discovered that he had accidently stumbled upon Martin Luther King, Jr. giving his famous "I Have A Dream" speech while interning in Washington, a story he followed up with a casual mention of having seen The Beatles in concert, the very last time they performed together.  How ridiculous is that??)