Flour Fiasco

Guess what I DIDN'T need today? ...I know this is my third post of the day, but I just had to get this down in the hopes that some day I may look back and see the humor in it. Good grief. Like I mentioned in an earlier post, we're all sick here, and so I was thinking to myself, "Self? What would make you feel good for dinner tonight? I know... it might be nice to have a nice, warm, hearty stew with some nice, warm, homemade bread. Mm Mmmm!" Continued thought process... "Well, I'm nearly out of wheat flour so I'll need to grind up some more." So I get out the grinder and wheat, get it all put together and turn it on real quick to test it, in response to which Dixie suddenly shrieks like I've never heard before! Holy Cow! Okay, so that was mistake number one. So I calm her down and then take her back to the guest room, turn on some Care Bears to drown out the noise and give her some toys to distract her, and then go back into the kitchen to get the flour going. I pushed the flour catcher bowl in, but it has a hard time going all the way in and there's no locking mechanism, but I've ground flour before without it being a problem, so whatever, right? Well, I turn it on to start grinding and then turn the grinder against the backsplash on the counter to try and help keep the bowl in place (should it decide to start coming out) and then go back to keep an eye on Dixie and make sure she's not freaking out again. A little while later I hear the grinder turn to its high pitch sound which means it's done, so I run back to the kitchen and suddenly find myself in a white cloud and this waiting for me...

And the picture doesn't even do it justice. There was flour EVERYWHERE! Not even kidding... everywhere. MOUNDS of it around the grinder and against the wall (that flour you see at the base of the wall there is at least an inch thick), and a layer of it on everything else. I yanked the cord out of the wall to shut off the grinder and just about died. And of course Dixie started crying again because of the noise and the fact that I had disappeared from her viewing area, so I had to run back and calm her again... and just... seriously. Was this someone's idea of a joke? Not only do I not get my nice, warm bread anymore, but I had to spend precious energy that I currently lack on cleaning everything in my kitchen. From the countertops, to the containers, to the walls, to the cords, to the PENS AND PENCILS for crying out loud. EVERYTHING had flour on it. On the bright side (if we're pretending there is one)... my kitchen hasn't been this clean in a while. :)
Here's to better days ahead!