The Taelemans´ Blog

I’m just being a drama queen, trying to convince you to read the post by using a “dramatic” title.

I promised Kris I would try to make some pancakes today. Yes, I’m becoming a real “house manager”. So I went to the store this morning and I bought everything to give Kris the perfect pancake.

Everything went according to plan, but then suddenly the fire alarm in our apartment started making a lot of noise. There wasn’t even a lot of smoke? I started panicking because I thought the sprinklers would start sprinkling water. Apparently it’s just an alarm which warns the inhabitants and it doesn’t send a signal to some fire department:).

I called the concierge and he told me to open up the door to the bathroom and make sure the vent in the bathroom was also on.

Pretty sensitive fire alarm. I felt like I was 14 again, when I was lighting some candles in my room and my dad came rushing upstairs when he heard my fire alarm going off.

Well, this is a lot of text to explain that actually nothing happened today. Sorry guys:) But at least the pancakes tasted very good (especially with the maple syrup).

Kris is having a long weekend because of Remembrance day, so we’ll try to do some day trips (besides the shopping).

Ooh btw, I’ve already bought some shoes (sorry Tanja, didn’t go for the tips). I’ve bought myself some sandals with sparkly thingies on it, and the heel is like 10 cm high and it’s a narrow one:). I think I know bought the perfect shoes to be sore all night. Well at least they look feminine:)

I’ll post some pictures later.

Have a nice Friday!

We are going to a party next week and it’s with a red carpet so we kinda need to dress up. So what does this mean:
Men need to wear a two piece suit. For our event, a suit or dress slacks & a tailored jacket with a tie is encouraged.
For women, a cocktail dress, dressy pantsuit or evening wear, usually with heels, are all great options.

Problem one: Kris has a suit, but no shoes that match the suit. Either he buys new shoes or he buys a new suit. Both expensive options.
Problem two: I have no cocktail dress, no pantsuit and well maybe some evening wear… but definitely no heels…

I got heels but I accidentally left them in Belgium, sending them over with dhl is too late, so I do not only need to by new shoes, but I need to buy shoes with heels… (and maybe a cocktail dress: AS IF…)

People who know me, know that I don’t wear cocktail dresses and definitely no heels…

So we both don’t know what to wear, but at least we now have plans for the weekend: shop till we drop… And we will probably drop before we shop…

Positive thing of this all: I will have my first “red carpet” experience…

PS: Mom why didn’t you push me into bringing those high heel shoes with me…? (just kidding)
Now I have a reason to finally buy some sandals with little diamonds on it… Yeaaaah

Finally the first snow has fallen. We can see some of the mountaintops from our apartment and they are totally covered with snow. We checked the forecast and the temperature is going down a lot in the next couple of days. Let the snow come…

Whistler will be opening in 22 days so that’s really something to look forward to. Our first Canadian snowboard experience. I probably need a new board very soon but i haven’t decided which one I’m going to buy. I have been waiting to buy one for a while, and well it’s really necessary. I’m going to a board sales on Friday, so maybe I find something there.

I have to admit, although I’m a little scared I really look forward to the opening of the peak 2 peak gondola. The first time it will be in operation (for public) will be the 12th of December. It’s a pity that it’s opening on a Friday, because I really wanted to go there. Maybe I’ll drop Kris off at work and head up to Whistler with the car. We’ll see…

Because it was Kris his birthday today, I decided to surprise him with a dinner in one of the restaurants he really wanted to go to. So I made reservations at Tojo’s. It was reallllllly good. Definitely worth it…

And to end the day, we went to Mc Donalds for a Mc Flurry and a strawberry Sundae.

Sunday morning at 4.30 am our alarm clock when off. A little bit too early on a Sunday morning, but all worth it.

We took the ferry around 7am and arrived on Vancouver Island at 8.30am. On the ferry we saw some seals, and I was secretly hoping to see some whales. But we weren’t lucky:)
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I know that some of you guys aren’t really interested in bear stories, so maybe this post is not for those readers (just to warn you guys:)).

I just finished reading a book which is called “The black grizzly of Whiskey Creek”. Why am I so eager to write something about it? Well there are several reasons.

First of all, Whiskey Creek is situated in Banff. Banff is a place we have visited in June. So we know where the story took place.

Second reason, I’m very intrigued by bear stories, bear habits, …

And the last reason: while reading some chapters, my heart was pounding and my adrenalin was coursing because sometimes it got really tense.

Sid Marty, the author, was an ex warden and he was there when everything happened. I don’t have the intention to tell you guys the whole story but at least I will tell you what the book is about.

Back in the 1980s there were a lot of problems with bears going to garbage dumps and feed on it. Wardens were pretty busy with trying to handle the situation. But besides that, everything else in Banff was going like it always was.

One day in August, 2 friends where going to the Whiskey Creek meadows to go fishing. Suddenly out of nowhere, a bear was charging them. The bear terrible mauled one of the guys… The wardens closed down the area and started a big search action for the bear. But they didn’t really know what they where searching for. Was it a grizzly or a black bear? Every lead was pointing in a different direction. After a few days they shot a bear of which they thought was the killer.

Apparently they did not capture the right one, because a few days later a second mauling was reported. So again, they used everything in their power to capture the bear. But a third mauling appeared. It was a 19 year old guy who was attacked. He was critically wounded. His scalp was torn from his head, he was bitten in the arm,… Why am I mentioning this? Well, although the guy wasn’t sure that the bear had left the mauling site, he went to a nearby pond to wash out his wounds and clear his head. He saw how badly he was wounded in the reflections of the water. Still he managed to think straight, start walking and try to find help.

I think it’s so weird that even when you head is that badly wounded, your brain is telling you to keep on fighting and to move on. If you think about a situation like that, a normal reaction would be to loose consciousness (not only because you saw the wound and part of your skull, but also because the loss of blood…). But it’s like your brain knows that if you go in a state of unconsciousness you will probably die…

After the third mauling, a lot of sleepless nights and a lot of hard working people, they succeeded in catching the black grizzly. It appeared to be the largest grizzly ever seen in Banff National Park and like I said, it was a grizzly instead of a black bear.

I can definitely recommend this book to anyone who is interested in bears and who likes to find out more about how everything works in national parks.

The authors website

Well everybody, HAPPY HALLOWEEN.

You probably got tired of the Halloween things, and I know, for lot of people it’s just a day where shops try to commercialize the whole event. True, but nevertheless it is a cool event.

I just got back from the trick or treat in our community. It was my first time as a volunteer and the first time I actually did some things with people from this community. I have to say, it was nice!
As from today I’m also a member of the Klahanie comity and I will be organizing some events together with other Klahanie members.

Back to the trick or treat thing. I saw a lot of nice costumes today. One of them was a guy dressed up like Chewbacca. I didn’t take a picture of him, because my batteries were dead.

But I have some pictures of the children who came by for the treat. (people don’t like it when somebody said trick instead of treat… If you do this you are being mean to children:)) Check out the pictures below.
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