Thursday are rest days for me. I clocked in at 130 pounds this morning and that makes me happy. That means I'm not too far from where I left off when the Holiday Madness started (129.5). My goal for January is 128.

Rest days, incidentally, are as least as important as weight training and eating right. You will not make gains if you do not train and you will not make gains if you do not get enough rest between training sessions. misc.fitness.weights, one of the few groups I read constantly, always seems to have a thread about some yo-yo who trains 7 days a week and doesn't understand why he or she feels beat all the time and can't lift as much as he or she used to.

I'm not as big into scuba diving as some things, but if I could move to the Caribbean I'm sure I would dive a hell of a lot more.

Jon and I learned to scuba dive only because we were going on vacation to St. John in the U.S Virgin Islands. I would gladly trade skydiving for scuba diving if I could dive in waters that clear and warm, and teeming with cool critters, every day.

Unfortunately Northern Alabama only has a few rock quarries for dive spots.

I used to live in the Caribbean; specifically Isla Verde in Puerto Rico. My family lived there from 1967 - 1977. I was very young and as usual, youth is wasted on children. I did not appreciate that I literally had a beach for a back yard.

Two years ago Jon and I got out of credit card debt and paid off our cars. We started saving up all the money we all of a sudden weren't spending and decided to celebrate by going on a real vacation. I chose St. John because I remembered going there several times when I was younger. I remember I loved it.

How the hell did people plan vacations before the web? We picked out a villa to rent and lucked into a really nice one called French Cap. Villa rentals are the way to go as far as we're concerned. Hotels suck and are only options when you are trying to save money. For that matter, you will not save money if you stay at the Westin or Caneel Bay, the big hotels on the island. You can save at some of the smaller guesthouses, especially the ones in town, because you will not have to rent a jeep. All the good beaches are on the north shore and available by taxi.

We did have to rent a jeep because St. John is hilly. Actually it's one big hill. Our villa was a 10 minute drive out of town. The cars have the steering on the left and everyone drives on the left like they were British or something. Driving is not as intimidating as it sounds once you get used to it. Besides, it's almost impossible to drive over 30 miles an hour so even though the island is only something like 9 miles at its widest point, it still takes 30 minutes to drive from the west side to the east.

It is also almost impossible to find parking space in Cruz Bay. If you go, find a jeep rental place that will let you park in their lot.

St. John is a great place to go even if you don't scuba dive; I highly recommend at least learning how to snorkel. My favorite snorkeling spots are Cinnamon Bay, and Waterlemon Cay when the currents are not strong. On the recommendations of some friends, we dove with Low-Key Watersports. We have enjoyed (that's too weak a word) diving with this outfit both times we have been to St. John.

The first time we visited one of our dives was the R.M.S Rhone. I was worried at first because the first part of the dive was in 80 feet of water and Jon and I had just gotten our certification. When I entered the water I lost my regulator for a second because my jaw dropped. The water is so clear there that even in 80 feet I could clearly see the entire wreck on the bottom; I could see the groups of divers swimming around it.

On both trips and several dives (including the Rhone), Jon and I encountered Steve Simonsen, a photographer who lives on the island. His site has beautiful pictures plus some nifty wallpapers. While the boat was clearing customs (the Rhone is located in the British Virgin Islands), Steve kept all of us divers in thrall as he told us the story of the Rhone as well as the history of the pirates who used Tortola as their lair.

You could say my passion isn't scuba diving, but St. John.