Where did this come from?

So, I'm in the bathtub last night and I catch a glimpse of my right hand. It looks like I took a wide black marker and 'highlighted' my fate line, and then tried to scrub off the ink. Odd. I'd noticed yesterday morning that when I closed my hand in a loose fist that my pinky set off a little 'owie' reaction against my palm, but it wasn't anything huge. Twelve hours later, I have a bruise over an inch long in the same place.

I'm sure it was exacerbated by shoveling show yesterday (I need a(nother) lesson in how to start our snowblower--grrrrrr). What I can't figure out is what happened in the first place.

This morning it isn't gray/blue all over anymore. The bruise color has faded on the actual line and now just seems slightly swollen and gray outside the line. Very weird.

In other news:

• It's 'officially' -6 this morning, but our thermometer is at -9. This isn't really news anymore, is it? It is supposed to get up to 10 above today.
• Sparky's all set to go to school this morning. Miraculous. He is still coughing a bit and I'm making him wear a sweater over his usual T-shirt (it's cold out--has he noticed??).
• I'm wearing one of my new sweaters: very soft and nubbly, dark brown. Why do new clothes always make me feel more able to face the day?
• Did I mention that Sparky is his school's representative at the school district spelling bee? That is scheduled for tomorrow night. Has he looked over the study-list? Not until I 'suggested' it this morning. We'll have a (lengthy) quiz tonight. "Tarpoon," "Extravaganza," "Seersucker" (that's the word on which his last competitor at his school went out), "Clementine" (that's the word with which he won), "Echt" (huh??).

And look: I'm going to be late for work! Well, not really, but I really should finish taming my hair and put on some socks and shoes, and pack up some of last night's pizza for lunch.