It's my birthday!!!

I have come out of my cocoon to wish myself a happy birthday. I was awaken by the traditional Hite birthday song, courtesy of The Beatles, and have had one class errupt in song and another in anticlimactic applause. I don't know what I am doing for the celebrations, but my friends are planning something. I just have to show up. Yippee!!!! I am sure that I will have plenty stories and PLENTY good times.

On a side note: I have SOOOOOO many things to blog that I am overwhelmed. Perhaps I will call my Visiting Teacher and have her do the posts for me....

I am a Fat Hite.

I am the oldest of the Fat Hite children and I am fat. I am not the fattest I have ever been, nor am I the thinnest. I have been yo-yo-ing on the fat Hite scale for a number of years, perhaps all my life. However, I am determined to be less fat. I will be eating fewer calories and gyming twice a day. My goal is to bring my BMI into the healthy range. According to the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, my healthy weight range is 122-164. Since they record weight in pounds and not kilograms, I'm in trouble. It will be a long row to hoe, but worth it.

You can read all about the Fat Hites at http://fathite.blogspot.com

Memory Lane

I just got done chatting with one of my college roommates, Kate. With the exception of our love of 'The Golden Girls,' Kate and I couldn't be more different...in fact, exact opposites would be the best way of describing us. It sparked many long-lost (perhaps appropriately lost) memories of times gone by. After reading my friend, Carol's Blog and finding the following, I thought I'd find some other long-lost memories.

If you want to play, follow these direction…

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn’t matter if you knew me a little or a lot, if it is recent or years old, silly or serious–anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It’s actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I’ll assume you’re playing the game and I’ll come to your blog and leave one about you.

Close Encounters with the Heber Creeper

I know that I have not yet posted for nearly a month and when I get back to my homestead I will post all of the happenings of the last several weeks. But the events of yesterday caused me to pause and be grateful for my life, among other things.

My daughter, Gabi, my good friend, Bryan, and I went tubing down the Provo River.


It was Gabi's first time tubing and she scared most of the fish with her scream as she creeped in and then was pushed into the rather cool water. Luckily the weather was very warm and especially conducive to a wonderful float down a cold river. We were all tethered together (Good thinking Bryan!) which kept us from losing anyone down the river and also helped to facilitate some quick saves from bank brush and large rocks. However, we found that keeping us all tied together was difficult when we had to go under subdivided bridges. On our first attempt of such Bryan was creamed against the wall of the subdivision and incurred a substantial contusion on his back and arm.

With the exception of said contusion, we had enjoyed much of the river. There was a larger bridge coming up and Bryan, in his infinite wisdom (he had floated the river before), decided it would be best to get out of the river walk, bypassing the bridge, and then climb back in to continue the float. Sounded like a good idea to me.

While we were walking past Bryan wanted to show us why he had made that decision. We parked the innertubes, partially on the track, and began walking down the tressel so he could illustrate why we were walking. We were about a third of the way to the middle of the tressel when Gabi and I heard a train whistle. Gabi claims to have said something like, "Isn't that a train? And shouldn't we leave?" But I didn't hear it. I did have the thought, "I wonder how close that train is?" Bryan, completely involved in his story, did not hear the alleged comment nor the whistle.

A few moments later, I heard the whistle again and this was what I saw:



THE HEBER VALLEY RAILROAD DIESEL ENGINE NUMBER 1813 WAS HEADED STRAIGHT FOR US!!!!

We all took off running down the tressel toward safety. Bryan was shoeless, Gabi was in flip-flops, and I was swearing. As we continued to run, both Bryan and I admit to having thoughts of jumping of the bridge in the shallow, swiftly moving water below. I looked back and saw that the train was stopping. It wasn't until we were off the tracks in the bushes that we saw that the train had stopped and the conductor was hanging out the window ahollerin'. I thought this was a good time to go and clear our tubes from the track and so I did so with Bryan and Gabi close behind.

I thought that the train would just keep on going, but nay. The train actually pulled up so that the locomotive was right by where we were standing and stopped. This was the train that pulled up next to us, not intending to order a Big Mac and Filet-o-Fish, but to order up three shagrinned tubers.



The conductor then got off his train to talk with us. The encounter went something like this:

Conductor: By now, I think you all know how stupid that was!

Bryan: Yeah, we know.

Gabi: (silent....mainly trying to not laugh)

Malia: Yes, Sir.

Conductor: These locomotives don't stop on a dime! They weigh 90 tons and they can do some serious damage.

Bryan: (respectfully trying to converse with the conductor, hoping we don't get a ticket)

Gabi: (still silent, happy to be alive)

Malia: (converting tons into pounds and thinking about some basics of Physics, including momentum)

Conductor: Hopefully, you've learned your lesson!

Malia & Bryan: Yes, sir. Absolutely, sir. Won't do it again!

Gabi: (still...silent)

Conductor: You owe me a new hat and pair of gloves. I lost them when I pulled the emergency brake. (walks away in a huff, back up on the train)

The train, finally 20 minutes later, pulls slowly away. This is a pic of the conductor, with that gloves and hat that he lost while saving our lives.


I don't think I was ever really scared for my life, but I did have vivid images of "Stand By Me" flashing through my mind knowing full well that one of those boys did not make it off the tressel alive. And now we know some really interesting facts about locomotives, like the fact that they weigh 180,000 pounds! If F=ma, then that is a lot of force coming toward you when you are trying to outrun a train, even the Heber Creeper.

In retrospect, it probably would have been safer to stay in the river and try to float under the bridge.

Well, there's always more to the story and if you want to hear the rest, including the part where Bryan had to hitchhike back to the car, do call.

It's a Happy Birthday!!!

My soon-to-be-sister-in-law, Danielle, marks the completion of two full decades in life. The wedding is three weeks from today on July 19th. She's great! I love her and can't wait to be officially related to her!

Happy Birthday Danielle!!!

My sis has a blog.

My sister, Caitlin, aka- Landy, aka - Caity, aka - Darwin, has a blog. It is very fun....and funny. If you read it, you will have a snippet of what my life is like living with her. Her first entry is a rant that can be expected daily....if not more frequently. Go check it out!

http://caitlinhite.blogspot.com/

Lazy...but busy summer!

I have started this post about five times, but have never had enough motivation to finish it. Perhaps it is because my computer is slowly dying (it has been good to me for 2 degrees and 5 1/2 years) or perhaps it is simply because it is summer and I can always find other things to do that are more fun and more exciting.

Some of the highlights of my lazy, nearly work-free summer have included: trips to the beach, playing with friends and cousins, concerts (I basically held hands with Tim McGraw for one whole second), bikes, books, pools, new running shoes, naps, movies (Must see movies include: Ironman, The Incredible Hulk, Indiana Jones, Kung-Fu Panda, and Get Smart), games, garage sales, and unfortunately a lot of picking up.

My Auntie Shirlene once posted a picture of her kitchen displaying the summer effects, I just remember the line of pop cans. I recently went into my kitchen to find no fewer than a dozen empty pop cans waiting for recycle by the sink. I don't drink soda, so I found that significant. From my position here at the computer I can see exactly 3 empty soda cans/bottles. I would spend my day picking them all up, but as I am trying to hide from the nearing 100 degree weather today (with no air conditioning) I think they will just stay there for the time being.


Today's game plan includes, the pool, a book I have to read for book club, and going somewhere with air. I hope all of you are staying appropriately cool and having appropriate fun this summer.

I don't think it was the tomatoes...

...and neither does the doctor at the ER, but it sure felt like salmonella poisoning.

I spent four quality hours hooked up to an IV giving me fluids and a variety of medications yesterday morning. I do not recall being that sick in my working memory. My thanks goes to St. V's emergency department and their readily available supply of phenergan.

Quote of the day:

(While talking with Advice Nurse) "Wake up your husband and have him take you to the Emergency Room."

First of all, why would she presume I am married. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, if I did have a husband, he would not be sleeping through that kind of sickness. I just don't understand some people.

Gabi is GRADUATED!!!

A New Toy for Me

I am always excited when I get to play with new technology. I am more excited when I get to own the technology. Due to a tax return, I am doing my part to stimulate the economy and purchased a new digital camera. It was a steal! I have been looking for a while and coveting for a long time. The Costco coupon confirmed my desires and I am now the ecstatic owner of a Nikon S52c. It was over $100 off the Amazon price, plus I got a leather case and 1GB memory card for free! My good friend Hilary and I were both recipients of this Tech Deal of the Day. And even though we both wanted the sleek red version and had to get the black due to availability, I call it a win all the way around.

There are some very cool features that this camera has that I never thought would even be available on a camera, but are now found on mine (which was only released 3 weeks ago). I can fix red eye in the camera before I make prints or load the pictures onto my computer. When I am on vacation and take that picture of the very important land mark because the tour guide tells me to, I can record a 20 second voice over to the picture so that when I get back from vacation I will remember why that very strange building is important. All of the optical zoom is inside the camera itself, so it never protrudes beyond the 0.9 inch width of the camera. It has all the bells and whistles for shooting that a modern camera should have.

However there are two features that are the COOLEST I have ever encountered. I can create slideshows with pictures and movies, with background music, in the camera. And the one that I thought was totally unimaginable is that I have wi-fi in my camera!!!! Yes, you read that right. All I have to do is plug in my camera, to the electric source and it will automatically charge my battery and download my pictures to the wireless source I have designated! How cool is that!?!?

So you can look forward to some awesome pictures to come from my new camera. I hope to be able to share slideshows and features and the joys of technology ownership.