The perils of housework

So I'm vacuuming cat hair off the couch last night with my little handheld vacuum cleaner, and at the same time I'm thinking more about a theater company meeting later that evening instead of paying attention to what I'm doing. Suddenly, three things happen simultaneously: I hear a godawful grinding wheezing noise. I am blinded. Something hits me on the head hard enough to knock me down.

( Can you guess? )