A few of you have sent me email messages concerning my dire straits. I want to assure you that I am not anywhere near bankrupt. We have many accounts that we can draw money from. All our taxes are paid and hopefully the Russian River Wine Road Barrel Tasting weekend's income will pay off our minimal short-term debts.

Just an update on my diet. Again, this is the easiest diet I have ever attempted. At this point, I'm down 18 lbs and plan on losing at least another 35. That may take me another year, but I really don't care how long it takes because I am changing my eating habits for the rest of my life. As I've said before, fortunately for this diet I am not a big fan of pasta or rice. If I never have pasta or only a little rice for the rest of my life, I will be perfectly happy. And as much as I've indulged in sweets in the past, I find I'm having no problem giving them up now. Of course, I can occasionally have any of these "forbidden foods" but ultimately what I would like to achieve for the rest of my life is to eat virtually no sweets. Other than the sweets, I hope to eat exactly what I want but only consume 2500 calories a day.