Fire, Cats, and Chinese Souvenirs

Today was Day Two of the Waldo Canyon fire that is burning just west of Colorado Springs, where I live, and has evacuated people from several towns around the area (Manitou Springs, Cascade, Chipita Park, Green Mountain Falls, and parts of Woodland Park), so that's pretty crazy. The fire is still zero percent contained, and it has burned over 3,600 acres, but somehow, not a single life or structure has been lost. It's surreal watching it all on the news, and it's wonderful seeing the city of Colorado Springs come together to help neighbors out.

The air smells SO bad, and I can't even breathe it in any longer. I was adamant about not turning on my air conditioner at all (I never had since moving to Colorado over two years ago), but I had to today. It was 100 degrees outside, and I had to shut all the windows because of the smoke / fire smell. My cats were so lethargic that even Dan was worried about them. They were laying on the small area of tile floor I have because it was cooler than the carpet, and they wouldn't move a muscle, even to get a drink of water. We kept picking them up and holding them in the giant freezer, but they weren't exactly fans of that, either.

In better news, Dan finally unpacked his suitcases from China, and he gave me SO MANY gifts/souvenirs from there. It's incredible. I didn't expect much more than chopsticks, but he bought so many things. I didn't take pictures of everything, but you will see a few of my favorites at the end of this post. :)

the fire from my balcony this morning

poor Gillian was SO hot in his thick fur coat

Dan got me this gorgeous new journal, training chopsticks (because I'm terrible with them), and a teddy bear from the hospital he worked for while there for a month (Beijing United Family Hospital)

my new tea set from Beijing :)

the "Lucky Cat" -- its arm moves repeatedly, and the story is that it grabs money/wealth from the outside and brings it in to your home... either way, it's cute :) 

I have so many different kinds of tea to try!!!

Dan bought this for himself, but it's so cool that I had to take some pictures of it. It's an airplane made out of bullets... neat, huh? 

Dan brought back so many other things, but these are the ones I chose to show for now. I am SO excited to have him home again, and we spend a nice few days together. He headed back to the Academy this evening, though, as he begins working Flying Team Upgrade at the Airfield tomorrow morning. It's nice knowing that he will be around for dinner, though!