Syncing my iPod to iTunes

I need a recommendation for some good syncing software. I had to reinstall Windows and, as a result, I lost my iTunes music. The music is all stored in my iPod, but when I tried to copy my iPod my music back to my computer, iTunes would not let me sync unless I erased all the music from my iPod! For some reason, iTunes thinks I'm trying to sync between multiple computers.

I'm looking for recommendations for some software that will not only transfer my music over to my computer, but will "remember" my iTunes settings such as my Smart Playlists, ratings, the number of times a song has been played and the last date played. The last two are important as several of my Smart Playlists are based upon this information.

Any recommendations or suggestions would be appreciated.

When's spring coming?

Actually, it's warm tonight, but I see there were blizzard conditions in the Dakotas. We had snow flurries here in Chicago a couple of days ago and thunderstorms today. Go figure.

We did get a rainbow out of it.

Abraham Lincoln

Kevin and I had a fun day on Friday. I chaperoned his 7th grade field trip to Springfield, Illinois.  We visited a number of Lincoln-related sites including the Abraham Lincoln Museum, his burial site and his home. We didn't get back home until 9:00 p.m. in the evening, but it was a fun day nonetheless.

Here is a photo of his home at 8th and Jackson Streets in Springfield.

Another Mom update

Just a brief update for family members who come across this blog. My mother returned home today. She had been in a nursing home for over three weeks rehabilitating her broken hip. She made pretty good progress while in the nursing home and now she needs to build on that progress.

Hey, I might be resurrected!

My NCAA brackets went bad on me two weeks ago. I play in two Yahoo! groups and my expectation was that I was going to lose and lose badly. In both groups, I have North Carolina playing in the championship game and winning the whole thing. My competition has UCLA winning.

Earlier this evening, Memphis beat UCLA so the tables have turned! However, as I write this, UNC is losing to Kansas by five points with more than 10 minutes left in the game.

If UNC survives the KU game, then I win one and maybe both groups!

Update: So much for that idea: Kansas 84 - North Carolina 66.