The pipe out front popped this morning. It happened last year. Except the flood is in our front yard because of where the pipe is. So yah. It’s being fixed but what a hassle. The cold make the PVC pop. Yep, SoFl got cold enough for busted pipes. Better than frozen busted pipes! I guess it’s a good thing the new neighbors were moving in at 2 AM?

Orkin is calling me Monday about coming to spray for the fleas. We’ll nee to board the dogs, but since they are calling Monday, it will be the following before we can have them out. Oy.

I also need to get my oil changed (we didn’t make it in last week), phone the HOA and find out where I send a letter about having speed bumps put in the neighborhood and find out when the next meeting is so I can make a nuisance of myself when they ignore my letter, and a handful of other things I need to do. Why are my Monday’s always super crazy?

Michael works on Sunday, so Monday isn’t a tattoo Monday – I am way behind. I am really really anxious to finish my arm so I can start the other one. I am also really anxious to start on him.

In the more immediate, this time last year I was going raw. That didn’t work out exactly, but it majorly impacted my eating habits. This year I am going to eat at least one 100% raw meal a day, two if possible. So far, so good.

Last January I posted this and from that list I’ve gotten a new mesh juicing cone and yarn. I still have not gotten a video camera and I am still kicking myself over it. I have been wanting one for almost ten years now. I really regret not having one, especially when all I have are short (thirty seconds and less!) clips of mom with the kids. I don’t want that to be my greatest regret, especially when recording devices are so affordable. I just can’t find one I am satisfied with.

At the end of the month I plan to re-evaluate the list, see what I can cross off entirely (decide we don’t actually need), what I can maybe move to February’s list (and note if I’ve been saving for it), and what I can actually purchase. This months wish list:

• a good video camera
• Nintendo DSi for the kids – especially Malachai purchased Feb 5 2010
• new bike for Fish
• iMac to replace my PowerBook which is dying purchased Feb 5 2010
• new shelves for my cookbooks
• eta:
• Also need to fix the computer monitor issues.
• Nook to replace Sony PRS when they die
• pasta attachment for Kitchenaid
• tamper and wrench for blender
• new pitcher for blender?
• this box of nifty from NatGeo

My intention is to recreate a “wishlist” every month (I usually keep track of these things on a piece of paper in my bag or on my phone) and really track our wants and needs and make goals of them.

Dad and I sat down today and made a household todo list – I am going to convert it to a page in here so I can keep track of those items. He expects to be able to start in March. In the meantime, I am going to be FreeCycling like a madman to get rid of stuff. This morning I Freecycled a bunch of unused glassware, a food processor, a glass dish and carrier, and a coffee carafe. Those items made room in my cabinet to put away my baking pans and cupcake pans and lunch sacks instead of moving them around because there was no place to put them.

I am, again, requesting a full refund. The items I ordered were not the items that were delivered. See below. I am ready to write about this as well as contact various raw food groups about your unsatisfactory products, customer service, and communication. I also see your DVD product is available via therawfoodworld.com  – I will also be contacting them to let them know about your business practice.

To recap, this is the package I was ordering, off of this page: http://www.pearmagazine.com/

Our Pear Online Holiday Gift eBasket makes a great Christmas gift that can ship as late as Christmas Eve, as it ships straight to your inbox for you to forward on to the person you are gifting!

The gift basket includes this gorgeous gift basket graphic with links to:

- Pear Magazine Online, Holiday Issue plus a year’s subscription!
- The Raw Vegan Holiday Survival Guide (eBook)
- Raw Vegan 5-course Holiday Feast Video Demonstration
- 365 Ways to Start Taking Care of Yourself Right Now! (eBook)
- Lovely acoustic harp and piano music downloads by Storm and Jinjee
- The 14 Garden Diet raw food eBooks
All for only $59.95 (a $180 value)
To order the Pear Holiday Gift eBasket direct to your inbox, click here

What I received is copied into the email quoted below. It included a request for my address, and a link to a page with links to 12 other web pages (not ebooks as described).

Begin forwarded message:

From: jennifer johnpoll <azxure@azxuredawn.com>
Date: January 7, 2009 8:33:48 AM EST
To: complaint-response@paypal.com
Cc: The Garden Diet <thegardendiet@gmail.com>
Subject: #PP-609-101-306

I last sent this identical email on 1/5 – I received an email this morning asking me to give feedback regarding PayPal’s dispute resolution process. Right now my feedback will be negative, as it has not been resolved. I am out tangible and digital goods. I have a seller who has not contacted me regarding sending said tangible goods or about the gross misrepresentation of the digital goods and I have PayPal, who claims to have a dispute system, but blew me off because of the digital goods, even though I was told “the claims process only applies to the shipment of goods” – so what about my tangible goods that were not shipped at the very least?

I am copying this email to The Garden Diet in the hopes my emails are being read and simply ignored. I am not giving up on a refund on these items from either the source or from PayPal.

My claim was closed [prematurely] and I cannot find any place to leave additional comments. I was told because there were no physical goods involved PayPal will not handle the complaint, however, there were physical, as well as digital, goods involved. Please see email below requesting my mailing address (which should have been provided via PayPal in the first place, now that I think of it) which was never replied to.

This item was also to include DVDs and other physical items. The email I got requesting my mailing address to send them to (see quoted below) was never replied to either. I am not only out digital items, but physical ones as well.

INITIAL AND ONLY EMAIL FROM SELLER:

Thank you for ordering our Pear Magazine Special!

Here is your link to Pear Magazine Online, the 12 raw food ebooks and music downloads:

http://www.thegardendiet.com/XXX (full URL removed as to not distribute their digital goods)

If you have trouble opening the link above try copying and pasting the below into your browser’s address bar:

www.thegardendiet.com/XXX (full URL removed as to not distribute their digital goods)

WE NEED AN ADDRESS TO SEND YOUR ITEMS TO.
PLEASE PROVIDE US WITH ONE.

We hope you enjoy the online magazine and ebooks meanwhile!

All the best of health and happiness,

Jinjee and Storm

http://www.thegardendiet.com

PS: If you have time, we’d love to hear how you found our site!
P.P.S.: Please also help influence children’s snack food choices by joining our “Take A Fruit Break” Campaign at http://www.takeafruitbreak.com

banana, vitamin water,

huge greek salad, yummy!

vitamin water

salad

I had more, I forgot to log it

Day 10

salad, smoothie, bananas, apple, egg sammich (fail, not raw, but yummy!)

… I failed in eating today …

smoothie – pineapple, strawberry, banana, soy milk

I made maple salmon for dinner tonight. I rarely pass up any salmon, let alone maple salmon. I had about 3 or 4 ounces of it. Not raw, but 100% delicious and I didn’t over eat, so I am not feeling heavy.

lunch – smallish salad – handful of greens, entire avocada, 1 small tomato, handful of grapes, oil & vinegar

I keep forgetting to list my liquid intake, but it’s not always a lot. Yesterday I had a Vitamin Water, and I just cracked one open today. (1PM)

one fig (I had grabbed two, but one got stolen)

more salad for dinner, Michael came home and made a banana-blueberry-raspberry-strawberry-milk smoothie, I had some of that too, and popcorn. Oh! I made the boys a banana-mango-milk-honey smoothie after dinner, I had some of tha too.

I grabbed this off of Raw Fu – we’re currently on day 6 of this years first 100 day challenge. I thought this was worth posting. I am fairly visual, and having it broken down this way made a lot of sense to me.

The Circles of Raw Fu are the circles of your lifestyle change. Changing your lifestyle to a raw food diet isn’t just about what you are eating or not eating. It is an important life shift that runs through every aspect of who you are, and will effect and touch every part of your being.

[content omitted]

I encourage you to visualize what you want out of this challenge. What do you want out of the next 100 days? What do you want out of the next year? What do you want in your life? See it, and keep it close to you. Look at it often, and remind yourself why you are here.

The Italian artist, Michaelangelo, said “I saw the angel in the marble and I carved until I set him free.”

Set yourself free. Love yourself.

HOW IS YOUR DAY 6 GOING?

I am not super active over on Raw Fu, but it’s totally worth signing up over there. Check out the blogs at Raw Fu.com and sign up at their forums (link in the first sentence of this post). Let me know if you need an invite – I don’t know if they are still in open registration or not.

salad, more smoothie

nectarine

I am actually full – I’ll have another nectarine or grapes or something later on I am sure, but I am not actively hungry at the moment.

ETA: I did have a banana, and some of that salsa I made last night. Yummers!