Anyone up for a little manual labor?

I am trying to tame the beast that we call the "yard" but it's proving to put up a pretty good fight. Sunday I spent most of the day ripping up the weeds that had taken over the front flower bed. It almost looks like a small version of dollar weed... it's got the same root system.
I finally got one corner to look like this...


Amazing how they hang on so tightly to the dirt... yet the flowers I buy at Home Depot, if I so much as breathe on them wrong - they curl up and die faster than you can say "waste of money." Apparently I was taking most of my frustration out on the poor rake I was using. It took a beating as well as my back - it STILL hurts and today is Wednesday. Yikes. I have this fear that I will someday really throw my spine out of whack, end up a paraplegic, and spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair. That fear comes from my fireman friend Ben who saw this happen. (Thanks alot Ben!) A guy was in a very minor car accident, but it was forceful enough that he had whiplash and didn't know it. One day he turned his head wrong and BAM - paralyzed for life. I think what really scares me most about that scenario is that I would be dependant upon Dave to do my hair and make up. Now THAT'S a scary thought. I might end up looking like Baby Jane.