What do you think it is?

Lost Boy and I saw this thing at Fry's Electronics one day. We don't agree on what it is. I thought I knew what it was, but Lost Boy argues that since it has four legs and spots it is something else. Will you please take a look at it and tell me what you think it is? Thanks!

Look for the picture and a poll at the top of my sidebar at

shootingstarchild.blogspot.com.

The poll closes November 15th so vote soon!

10 Handy Things you can do with Vaseline

What can you do with Vaseline? Lots of things really. Vaseline is mainly used as a lubricant or to relieve chapped skin, but you'd be surprised at what it can be used for. Here is my take on the uses of Vaseline (with input from Lost Boy, Papa, and Nika):

1. When Baby Two Flowers had a cold a few weeks ago I rubbed Vaseline on her nose and lip to keep her skin from getting sore after all the nose wiping I did.
2. When you're fixing your bike, use some Vaseline to lubricate your bike chain.
3. Lost Boy says that Vaseline is useful for lubricating the air cylinder of a Nerf Gun. Just don't ask me where the air cylinder is, or why it needs to be lubricated.
4. Vaseline makes great lip gloss. It soothes chapped lips better than other glosses. But don't expect much in the way of tint and flavor.
5. I've heard that marathon runners rub Vaseline into their skin beneath their running shorts and bras to keep their clothes from chaffing. When I get up the determination to run a marathon I'll let you know if it works.
6. If you've run out of WD40 (or know that it is really a water displacer, not a lubricant) you can smear Vaseline on a key and put it into a squeaky or sticky lock to loosen things up a bit.
7. When you change your car battery, smear Vaseline on the contacts before you secure it to reduce sparking.
8. You can use Vaseline to waterproof leather shoes. Nika says she used it on her combat boots when she was in the military.
9. If you are in a beauty pageant you can use Vaseline to grease your teeth so your lips don't get stuck to them. It makes it easier to smile. I've never tried it.
10. If you have a certain kind of mustache you can use a bit of Vaseline to Evil it. That's when you twist the ends up at the corners of your mouth. (Lost Boy is currently growing his mustache out so can Evil it.)

What do you do with Vaseline?

I wrote this blog post while participating in the TwitterMoms and Vaseline blogging program, making me eligible to get a $25 gift card. For more information on how you can participate, click here.

We made it!

So after I went for my long walk I hurt pretty bad. But I was surprised to find that it was the stuff under my incision that hurt, not my legs! I've been practicing with shorter walks since then but the other day I walked farther than I had on my long walk and I didn't even realize it! So today I decided to go for my goal.

Except I changed my goal slightly. I learned that you don't have to buy something to connect to the internet at Starbucks anymore, and there is a Starbucks slightly closer to me than the La Bou (but only slightly).

So we made it to Starbucks and the internet! But now the sun is going down earlier so we can't stay for more than ten minutes. I'll have to start my walks sooner...

How old do you have to be to wear suspenders?

My grandpa is having back surgery this week. He has had increasing pain all year. I'm not sure what the details are, but some of the disks in his spine are causing the pain. His doctor said that's what comes with getting old (Grandpa is somewhere in his seventies).

To help manage the pain he sometimes wears a back brace, but he says it makes his hips disappear, which are kind of important for holding up pants and things. Grandpa is not into the skater sagging look, so I thought I'd offer a suggestion to help him out. This was our conversation:

"Have you thought about wearing suspenders?"

"Get out of here! Only old men wear suspenders!"

"Hey!" Cried Lost Boy, "I wear suspenders!"