Friday the 13th of July…I thought I wouldn’t have to go through this range of emotions for a couple more years.

Similar to Will’s post about Harmoni, our Little Tragedy #3, Tiki succumbed to a similar fate. We were watching Tiki for a friend of mine as she prepared to move to Texas. We had him for a couple of weeks and really grew to like him despite his wanting to go outside, several escape attempts and howling in the middle of the night.

He was a thin little guy, but he held his own against our six other kitties. He immediately gained the respect of the others and even tried to put the moves on Patches. It wasn’t too long before he claimed a spot on the bed. I knew things were not good when he started to sleep a lot and had no desire to play outside - it was an all too familiar feeling. I told his owner the night before about his condition and she decided to take him to the emergency vet. Only 3 out of the 7 times that I have visited an emergency vet have I walked back out with my pet. Although Tiki wasn’t mine, he became part of the family and we all grew to love him in that short amount of time. I really wish I had a definitive answer on what the problem was, but that was not my decision to make despite my pleas.

I cannot tell you how much I hate the fact that we have the ability to take a life. I don’t agree with the practice and would rather have the animal pass on its own. When Pooch died last year, she waited until she took her last walk, went to her bed and went to sleep forever. We knew it was a matter of time and she went on her own terms.

For all of you with pets, take care of them up until their last breath. Don’t put your pet down without knowing what exactly was ailing it. It is the least we can do before taking their life.

On Friday, Amanda and I attended the Great American Scrapbook Convention in Chantilly, VA. What could be better than shopping for scrapbook supplies with one of your friends?

There were lots of vendors to include some non-scrapbook ones like the lint roller booth, Tastefully Simple and Mary Kay. I guess scrapbookers need to clean, have a good meal and look good while preserving memories! I am happy to report that I exercised a lot of self control. I spent less than $200 whereas in years past I could spend close to $200 at just one booth! Most of my self control comes from the fact that I have a Wishblade (see this post) and that I have pretty much given up on stamping in my scrapbooks. I also have just too much stuff and not enough time to use it.

So what could ruin such a wonderful day? Other than the mobile pothole crew on 66 during the tail end of the morning rush hour, Friday rush hour traffic on 495 on the way back, there was this dummy:

It took all I had not to put my scrapbook supplies to work on this. With an arsenal that includes permanent black markers, scissors and adhesive, I truly could have gone to town on this car. I could barely open my hatch to get to my lunch! Since we still had some shopping to do and the fact that I didn’t want Amanda to see my bad side, I moved Hotaru to another spot…

When we got back to the apartment, Amanda and I swapped some excess supplies and did some layouts while watching one of the best movies of all time - GOONIES! She was quite surprised to see how much of the movie I could quote (inner nerd emerging…). I have to say that we had a very good time.

Friday will go down as the hottest days of the year so far. Check out the temp inside Hotaru.