Faithful readers know that for the last several years we've headed to the dessert to kick off the new year. We start with a very nice few nights at Chez Paul, and this year was no different. Paul was nice enough to offer his spare bedroom. Alan and Dale were in town with guests of their own and Sunday dinner was a fantastic meal at Blame It On The Moon. Nancy and Zona were a hoot! We laughed as we downed a few cosmopolitans and made plans for the future.

The future arrived the very next day in the form of a showing of Sordid Lives. This low budget independent film is a marvel. It has been a cult hit in Palm Springs, showing continuously for the last two years. We did it up right with a southern trailer trash pot luck. Paul has detailed it all so well on his site. I recommend the film to everyone. You will laugh until you fall out of your chair. (See if you can pick out ONJ in the movie; I didn't.)

After filling our bellies for two days, on Tuesday we entered The Palms. You all know the story by now... low calorie, healthy gourmet eating and six hours of exercise a day. It is a super way to start the new year.

This is the typical condiment set up on every single meal, even the NYE lobster dinner.. From left to right, back row: lemon wedge; bran; parmesan seasoning; Dr. X's green seasoning. Middle row: non-fat milk, vinegar. Front row: salsa; cayenne pepper; salt; powdered garlic; pepper. Despite all the jokes and the wealth of seasonings, the meals are just fantastic. They fill us up and taste just incredible. Those Styrofoam cups contain the daily 5PM smoothies. Yummy.

The Palms is always up for sale, this year with a big sign on it. Some of the staff have taken off because of the pending sale. Two more cancelled at the last minute and the manager asked me if I'd like to be a dealer for a night. You Bet! I had a great time of it. In return we each got a free massage; all I can say is Ginger has wonderful hands.

Casino night ends with an auction to redeem our winnings. We only got one glass of champagne each - there must be something else going on here.

Jeanne won this brightly colored roller bag. Looks like Dev won an apple. After a week of spa rations, guess which was more sought after?

Barbara is a new comer to The Palms NYE. She works as a speech therapist in Studio City. We had a good time sweating with her.

We stayed a few more nights and said goodbye to some very nice friends as we worked to harden our abs. Our last night we had dinner again with Paul. I was struck by how big the portions are at regular restaurants. At the spa we ate so much less and yet we worked out so much more. Alas.

On the way home I got some fantastic shots out the window of the plane. I can't wait for next year.