Crazy fire and Mike's retirement party

This afternoon at work one of my coworkers came in and said something about the vacant laundromat a couple buildings down from us being on fire, and right after that heard sirens (the fire department is only like a block or two away). I looked outside and saw smoke pouring out of the building..I went back inside and very casually said "yep, it's on fire." Adam was amused at how casually I said that LOL. I kept looking out and it just seemed to be getting worse, even with the firefighters there..the smoke had turned very black. Soon after that the battalion chief came in and said everyone had to evacuate, so we quickly grabbed important stuff and went outside. I wasn't really afraid our building would catch on fire, it wasn't windy and half the fire trucks in Fairbanks were there LOL. What I was told is that a homeless person broke in and started a fire to keep warm, which got out of control and soon the whole building was on fire (she was ok, I saw her standing outside with a blanket). I'd feel SO guilty if I had done that, even if the building was vacant! For some reason the fire smelled like someone roasting marshmallows over a campfire..weird lol. Here's a picture:

Yikes! I wonder if it'll join the other burnt-out buildings in Fairbanks that for some reason don't get torn down..

Today was ALSO Mike's official going away party..mom and I drove by the fire and it was still burning (it had been a couple hours since it started). Mike was like "I'm gone for a couple weeks and the building threatens to burn down??" haha. It was nice, a few people made some speeches, saying in the years they've known him, they've never heard him say a bad thing about anyone and never got angry and was always positive..definitely 100% true. Mike also announced he's adopting a baby girl that was born a couple days ago!! Elias was SO excited to be getting a sister, he kept proudly showing people her picture on Mike's phone lol. He's going to be such a great brother! We also had cake for Elias since he turns 5 on Christmas Eve..he's such a cool kid. :D Here's a pic of my coworkers and I with Mike:

Yay! He did so much good for the Literacy Council, we'll have to continue his legacy!

When mom and I left the party, we drove by the building again and it looked like they had gotten the fire out, with the other buildings looking fine..I'm sure it helped that the fire station was so close!! Crazy afternoon lol

My bed arrived on Tuesday! On Monday I texted mom (it was easier just to send it to her house) "keep me posted (ha ha) on when the bed gets there" LOL. We're planning on putting it together on Sunday..I hope I like it!!

( dec. 4-9 )

Today's trivia: According to the Federal Reserve, a $1 bill lasts about 6.6 years