WHERE THE DEER AND THE BUFFALO WINGS ROAM

When I found this sweeps last night, for four nights in at Hotel Victor South Beach and a consultation with Dr. South Beach Diet himself, a.k.a. Dr. Arthur Agatson, plus a one-year membership to the South Beach Diet program, plus $1,000 in cash for a South Beach shopping spree, I loosened my metaphorical belt and sighed a languid sigh of relief. The timing could not have been more perfect.

I've been visiting my mother since Wednesday, in Norwalk, Connecticut, where I grew up, and these visits always involve ritualistic meals that, after a few days, leave me feeling ready for the fat farm. We do takeout from a place in the Cranbury section of town, called The Gourmet Village Chinese Restaurant, which makes the best General Tsao chicken I've ever tasted, all white meat. We order from a Mexican restaurant in East Norwalk, Tacos Mexico. The enchiladas in green sauce are divine. Then last evening, I made lobster, corn on the cob and Caesar salad for my mom and Isaac. A perfect little meal. Then I entered the perfect little sweeps. Or so I thought, until I read the Official Rules. This sweeps does not close until MARCH 31, 2007. That's the farthest out deadline I've encountered so far. Usually the sweeps I enter end a few months out at most. Now, the feeling of urgency around my overindulging night in and night out will subside the moment I get home. But still. This unexpectedly far out deadline threw off my fantasy of meeting Dr. South Beach Diet sooner rather than later, presumably before the year was out.

You can enter once a day through March 31, 2007.

To enter, go to www.prevention.com/sbd/.

P.S. The reference to deer in the title refers to deer that saunter through my mother's backyard, not to venison. The buffalo wings would be those served at Ash Creek Saloon, a local restaurant that serves some of the best ribs I've eaten on either side of the Mississippi. We did not, thank goodness, get there this time.