Bought my 7 year old son a SanDisk Sansa Fuze MP3 Player this weekend. I bought one for myself too – I LOVE this thing! It’s small enough to be carried easily but big enough that the video works great – and it has an expansion slot for unlimited storage. Can’t do that with an iPod!

Anyway, enough of the commercial.

Ethan wanted to put some episodes of SpongeBob on his new mp3 player, so I went looking for instructions on how to do that. Turns out adding video to the Fuze is a bit more difficult than I had anticipated. The video has to be in just the right format and the Fuze is not compatible with Amazon Unbox videos or AAC files.

Not one to give up easily, I continued my search – until I found this and this. Media Converter Pro software to remove DRM protection from Amazon or Apple videos and complete instructions on how to convert TV series DVD episodes into XviD files! XviD works on the Fuze (sort of – it’s a format that can be changed into a format that works with the Fuze)!

We have a ton of SpongeBob DVDs – perfect!

First I tried the software – but the trial version only converts a minute of video. But it does work. Then I tried the DVD instructions.

I followed the directions exactly and IT WORKED!!!!  I also discovered that the Rhapsody music store (free software – you don’t have to sign up for their service) automatically converts the AVI file to the accepted format when you add it to the Fuze. So, for those of you keeping score at home, the process goes something like this:

1. Rip episode from DVD
2. Convert file formats and import to Rhapsody software
3. Connect Fuze to Rhapsody Music Store
4. Drag video file to Fuze and let Rhapsody do the rest

My baby now has SpongeBob on his Fuze – and Mom is a hero! And the video looks good! Now granted – the screen on the Fuze is only 1.9 inches so there are some limitations, but the video is clear and watchable and the audio is perfectly synched with the video. And it’s all free software – I didn’t have to buy anything. A definite success.

What I haven’t told you yet is this – the whole process took all weekend.

ALL weekend!

But I did it! And next time won’t take all weekend.

It doesn’t stop with SpongeBob, you know. I can now add my Dead Like me episodes to my Fuze and my Northern Exposure episodes too! Maybe some House and Bones too! And Chuck.

Oh man, I’m gonna need more memory cards. LOL

I feel like such a geek – and I love it!

OK, it was fun for a while. Beautiful, really.

But we haven’t seen the ground in weeks and the snow just keeps coming.

It’s kind of funny actually. This is our first winter in about a dozen years – we just moved back up from the Sunshine State.

We were all excited about experiencing winter again after so long in Florida’s sub-tropical climate. Our youngest son had never seen snow and he couldn’t wait! We could go sledding and skiing and have snowball fights and build a snowman. We fantasized about cold winter evenings spent snuggled up on the couch in a big blanket with a hot mug of cocoa. Anything to break the monotony of perpetual sunshine and humidity (I know it sounds weird, but you really do get tired of it being so sunny – and HOT).

We got exactly what we wished for. We moved in on a Wednesday and it started snowing that Friday! And it really hasn’t stopped for more than 24 hours at a time since.

Truth be told, we love it! But we are beginning to wonder if we haven’t stumbled into the next ice age!  

Way to go Steelers! Way to go!

LOL  I’ve never been much of a cheerleader, but I do love the Steelers. I grew up in Western PA, and football is almost a religion in these parts. Seriously, one school district here even cancelled school today so everyone could stay up and watch the game!! Wasn’t ours though, and my kids were really bummed!

I have so many childhood memories of watching the Steelers games with my family. Most Sunday afternoons the whole family (uncles, aunts, cousins, great-grandparents, you name it) would meet at Grandma’s house for supper. During football season, this ritual also doubled as a Steelers football party. While the kids ran around playing and the women cooked, the men were glued to the TV screen. Very often everyone ran to the TV to see what was happening every time a great thunder arose from the den.

Those were the Steelers Golden Days – Lynn Swann, Mean Joe Green, Franco Harris and Terry Bradshaw were on the field and the Steelers were burning up the place! Back to back Super Bowl victories.

Now they’re the first team in NFL history to win six Super Bowls. And they set some records with last night’s game. Longest return for a touchdown…or something like that. It was a great game! I usually get bored with the game and wander in and out of the room, but last night I was riveted to my seat!

One thing can be said for Steelers fans – win, lose or draw – we LOVE our Steelers!!