I’ve got the issue sorted out already. Fortunately a little research showed a really quick fix that I was able to implement. Problem solved! It is true, though, what my teachers spent my whole education telling me: Graphic Design is all about problem solving.
For anyone using wordpress whose had the background vanish: Add the plugin “Background Control” and POOF. You’ll have control of your background again and be able to re-add it and have everything working exactly the way you want it again.
Please excuse the missing background. It’s early and Sunday right now. I ran the wordpress update to 3.3 and now the background of the website is broken and I’m not sure how long fixing the skin will take.
WordPress is usually nicer about making sure things like this don’t happen.