Favorite Invention Friday!!!

I know that so many people have these little contraptions. You can't walk through a mall without seeing a teenager walking along in their own little world, focused only on the path they walk and the noise bouncing from ear to ear.

My focus here isn't really about the iPod specifically, but on the MP3 concept. When going on road trips, it used to be a big ordeal to pick out and store the desired 8-tracks...cassettes...CDs. Thank goodness no one ever had a turntable in the car! Now, I just grab my iPod and the FM transmitter (I will feature that sometime) and we are off. I have enough selections loaded to keep everyone in the family happy! I have country, 80s rock, High school Musical, AC/DC and Air Supply! It's always a little schizophrenic to listen in the shuffle mode because you never know what you are going to get next. (I have found that some of the songs that I enjoyed in my youth, really are not appropriate for kids when you listen to the lyrics...easy enough to skip ahead, though.)

I LOVE that I can carry my favorite tunes, educational audios and episodes of the Office with me! And I haven't even tapped into the treasure of podcasts yet.

On a recent road trip, I enjoyed a special moment with my iPod and my 11-year-old. We were on our way to Arkansas for a family reunion, with my mom, sister, nephew and two younger daughters. During some leg of the trip, she and I were together in the seat located in the way back. After several miles of chatting, I put my earphones on and shuffled. When a HSM song came on, I passed an ear bud over to her and we sang together. After that, a Garth Brooks song came on about dreams being like rivers. I told her that her dad liked that song and we discussed it's meaning. Next came a song from my first date with her dad. It was so fun to relive these memories with her...discuss some of the poetic lessons of life included...create a new memory with her. I certainly didn't see that when I clicked "Add to Cart" last year.

Note: You can buy refurbished iPods here. You might have to be patient and wait for what you want. But, you will save money and they still have a 1 year warranty on them.