25. December 2009 10:24
by Rene Pallesen
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Good news everyone...we are expecting a baby and the stork should be delivering around mid June next year.
I guess most of you guys already know by now....for the rest of you...Surprise!!
It is not unexpected as we were trying.
Now
there is a busy time ahead preparing for the baby. Kims wants the baby
room painted (Even though in my opinion the baby doesn't care what
colour it is).
We will also need to get hold of stuff like prams
etc. If there are any baby items that you can spare (especielly items
such as car baby seats, pram and changing table) then we would be very
grateful.
We don't know if it is a boy or a girl yet (We should know by the end of January).
17. November 2009 08:46
by Rene Pallesen
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2. November 2009 08:13
by Rene Pallesen
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12. October 2009 11:44
by Rene Pallesen
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It has been raining almost constantly for the past two weeks (since
the dust storm really) and Andy and I had organised to go climbing in
the Blue Mountains together with a friends of his (Dan) who's never
been on on real rock before.
We looked a the forecast and it
didn't look promising for the mountains so the night before we decided
to go to plan B and go to Barrenjoey instead.
The quality of the climbing is more limited, but at least it is a shorter drive and walk-in in case you have to bail.
We arrived up at Palm Beach in the morning and the roads were still soaked in water from all the rain the night before. We therefore decided to stop at a cafe and have some breakfast and let the cliffs dry out a bit before walking in there.
While eating breakfast we were having a look at the latest radar pictures and we could see that it was pouring down in the mountains and we could see rain approaching the Sydney area.
After breakfast we were trying to decide whether we should bail or go climbing. After much procrastination we decided to climb and went to the carpark. Andy pulled out the insect repellent and started rubbing it into his genitals (or so it looked) saying that it would keep the chicks away (which I'm sure his wife appreciates)...or was it ticks.
For Dans benefit we started out on one of the easiest climbs around there called Jezebel. Andy did the first lead and as he finished we could feel the first rain drops. I then did the second climb and once I reached the top the rain became heavier. The plan was to have Dan follow me up so that he could try an absail from the top. Once he reached the top it really started pouring and all of us became drenched while setting up the absail and clearing the gear.
Dan made it down in good style (although nervous) and once I'd made it to the ground as well we quickly packed our gear and headed back home for a nice warm shower.
Mostly a non-climbing day really...but Andy did get his sugar-hit with the pancakes.
12. October 2009 11:37
by Rene Pallesen
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Saturday evening Kim and I went with a couple of friends to the Capitol Theatre to see the Broadway play called Wicked.
The play is about how the Wicked witch became wicked in 'The Wizard of Oz'.
The play very cleverly provides the background for the Wizard of Oz.
This was Kims birthday present to me earlier in the year...satisfied the criteria for presents: Must be an experience or a consumable.
It was a really nice evening and the play was very funny...especially the Wizard of Goodness (a real blonde)
23. September 2009 04:35
by Rene Pallesen
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23. August 2023 19:08
by Rene Pallesen
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At Lake Pukaki there is this little beautiful chapel at the lake.
Again this is a really photographed location and much more busy than I remember it.
23. August 2023 19:08
by Rene Pallesen
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At Queenstown we did 4 days of skiing at the Remarkables.
The boys did two days of lessons and were with me the other two days. Some friends of our joined us in Queenstown, so for the other days I had Tod to go with, who is a very decent snowboarder.
Aiden and Lucas are both becoming good skiers, but especially Lucas is getting really good to the point where I can bring him onto black runs.
Although Kim is still very much a beginner she still did two days of skiing sticking to the beginner slope where there is a 'magic carpet' lift. I did see some improvement to last year, but she is still too scared to go on the proper lifts.
I bought my own ski boots last year and brought them along (my feet are not compatible with rental ski boots).
This weekend we went to Sasha's and Mavis's wedding.
Family and friends were invited to attend the ceremony at Greenwich at 10am. The location they had chosen had a stunning view of Sydney Harvour and skyline.
When we arrived neither the groom or the bride were there. Approximately 20 minutes later the bride arrived, but still no groom, so she did another round in the car.
Finally at 10.30 Sasha arrived with his dad after having been stuck in traffic, shortly after Mavis arrived in her beautiful wedding dress and the ceremony could get under way.
It was a beautiful ceremony, beautiful location and beautiful weather.
After the ceremony it was photo time.
The reception was at a restaurant called Occilate Wildly in Newtown. The food was nice and at the end of the afternoon everyone went on their way.
27. August 2009 12:18
by Rene Pallesen
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27. August 2009 10:27
by Rene Pallesen
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The week before we went away on holiday I experienced pain in the pelvic area. I quickly got it diagnosed with ultrasound to be a hernia. Furtunately it could wait until we came back from holiday to be fixed although it was giving me some problems along the way carrying suitcases etc.
As soon as we came back I went to see the specialist and he told he that it would have to be fixed with surgery and that he could schedule it for the following week.
In the morning of the surgery I had to be at the hospital at 6.30am in the morning. Surgery started at 9am and by 11am I was awake again released at 1pm.
So it terms of the surgery it was very smooth...but it was very painful afterwards. I had problems standing up and sitting down.
This photo was taken two days after the surgery:
The cut is 13cm long and at this point I am still very much in pain.
The feedback from the doctor was that this was an Indirect Inaugural hernia and apparently the type that can cause a lot of problems later on if not fixed.
Unfortunately part of hernia surgery is that they have to cut some of the nerves so that they don't get caught in the mesh they use to repair it with.
This means that now two and a half weeks after the surgery there is still a large area around the cut that has got no sensation to touch or pain and some areas are hyper sensitive with the result that even the lightest touch is painful.
I hope the eventually all the sensation returns to normal (apparently in 25% of the cases this doesn't happen). I also hope that the scar won't be too bad and will mostly disappear long term.