Then I bent down to pick something up. I stood up to excruciating pain in my back and buttocks. Apparently I had been adding too much to my work out and straining the muscles. I strained my back and glute muscles. I have not been able to exercise for four days so far and it is driving me crazy. I was really beginning to enjoy exercising even if it is a pain in the butt.

I am just getting over my first spring sinus and sore throat issues. I have found some useful ways to deal with my sinus issues. I have been using a neti pot to clear my sinuses of allergens and combat some of the problems before they arise. I am also practicing self acupressure and facial massage to help combat congestion. I keep the over the counter drugs for a last resort.

For my throat I have had some success drinking hot tea and gargling with Listerine and/or salt water. Spring and Fall I always have bout with a severe sore throat that takes my voice away for a few days.

The two things that I enjoy the most when I am feeling ill are Ruffles potato chips and lemon lime soda.

My birthday is the day that I celebrate all that I am and all that I can become. I celebrate the day that I began my journey on this earth. I celebrate all my accomplishments and learning experiences in the last year. I set some goals and make some wishes for the coming months.

I like quiet for meditation. I would really love for it to be quiet when I am trying to go to sleep. Unfortunately there never seems to be a quiet moment in my neighborhood. There is a radio blasting form a house or car. I can hear the neighbors running around inside their home. Car alarms are going off. Doors are being slammed over and over again. Airplanes are flying over head sounding like they are going to land on my roof.

I try to block out all of the noises with meditation, ear plugs, and headphones. Sometimes I have to go some place quiet like a cemetery to find peace.

Do other people get frustrated with the noise? Do they get upset when the neighbors music is so loud it that shakes their house? Do people care if they are disturbing others?

I keep my music so that I can hear it in my house and not my neighbors house. I try to turn my car radio down when I enter the neighborhood. I try to be considerate of my neighbors and I wish that they felt the same way.

Look at all of the problems that Toyota is having right now. They used to known for the quality of their vehicles. now they are becoming more known for the problems.

My mom replaced a head gasket in her car for $1300 six months ago. The mechanic that replaced it, says that the warranty was only 30 days. There is nothing that he can do about it. He practically blamed her for the new gasket not lasting six months. He said that the oil change establishment that pointed out this leak must be lying to her. I would want to guarantee my work and put a good face forward so word of mouth about me was good.

The same goes with my mom’s dentist. She got a loan to get some top dentures. The dentist screwed up while making the impression and then wanted to force her to take Valium because she gagged. They use a wax mold as guide to find out if the new dentures will fit properly. The wax mold did not fit properly but he told that was the way he wanted it and had them made his way. They do not fit and he will do nothing about it but blame her. What kind of dentist is he?

One of my pet peeves is when somebody does something wrong and then tries to blame the other person. We need to take responsibility for our own mistakes.

I feel awful even being upset about my run of bad luck with the earthquakes that have been happening across the globe. I send my prayers and positive energy to all the people.

That being said, I need to rant about my bad luck for a moment. In the last six months my car has been in the shop five different times for five different things. My mother and I have set two microwaves on fire. My mother’s car had a head gasket replaced six months ago. We just found out that the new head gasket is leaking or the head is bad now. That means we can only use my car the car that has been in the shop five times in six months.

I am having a hard time finding the silver lining in this cloud. I have kept my unique sense of humor though. I got that from my mom and she still has hers too. We laugh hard on the outside while worrying on the inside.

I am still getting accustomed to all of this online social interaction. What do I want to post on my facebook page and twitter account? Does anyone really want to read about what I had for dinner tonight?

My time on the internet is not all play though. I have to keep my website updated, post to my blogs, and I am getting ready to start giving live meditation, reiki and chakra advice on liveadvice.com. I will doing that under the name PeacefulMind. My advertisement has been posted for a couple of weeks but I keep putting it off until tomorrow.

I joined Twitter more recently. I have a few followers but I am hoping to have many more. I update twitter with my most recent articles and website updates. I do not know what else to post there now. Is anyone really interested in what I ate for lunch or what I am doing right now?

I have found out that it is fun to make these lens. I enjoy writing about topics that interest me. It was fun to decide what to write, how to set it up, and what to add. I was having so much fun that I forgot I could earn money. I did not even care. I just want to build many more. I think it could be addicting.

I really like that squidoo has a list of charities that they are linked with to send earnings. You can choose which charity you would like the proceeds to go to. There is also a donation module you can add to any lens so your readers can make donations to your favorite charities.