H is for Harmonica and Hooey Sticks

I remember growing up and going to my Grandpa and Grandma's house in Pawnee City Nebraska.  My grandpa loved playing the harmonica.  A lot of the times we went to Grandpa and Grandma's house, we would sit around the piano and sing songs.  All of a sudden grandpa, would leave and grab the harmonica and start playing it.  He loved playing the harmonica.  I remember we always looked forward to see when he was going to break out the harmonica when we were there.

My grandpa was so inventive as well.   He liked to carve and make things out of wood.  One of the things he made, he called a hooey stick.  It was basically a little piece of wood, a little bit bigger than a pencil.  He carved little notches in it, and put a little propeller on the end of it.  When you rub your pencil against the notches of the wood, the propeller would start moving, and then you yelled "HOOEY!" the propeller would spin in a different direction.  It was like magic!  It took us a few years to realize the trick.

Another thing my grandpa would show us was what you called water witching.  You would grab two sticks and hold them straight in front of you toward the ground, and when you would run across where there was water, the sticks would move together.  There was no trick to that. 

I look back on those times and realize how lucky I was to have Grandparents like these.

G is for Ghosts

Do you believe in ghosts?  I do have never ending faith in certain things, but when it comes to things I can't see, I am very skeptical.    I have never seen a ghost, and I am glad I haven't because I would probably freak out beyond belief. 

However, I have had some weird things happen that are unexplained.  I remember my friend Bob stayed the night, and we were telling ghost stories.  I remember saying  "if there is a ghost in this room give us a sign".  Nothing happened for a while, and then all of a sudden we heard a bunch of stuff fall on the floor.  We were like what the heck is that?  We got up and every single poster in my bedroom had fallen on the floor at the same time.  Holy Cow!  Bob and I were scared.  Our heart rates were sky high!  I am not sure if it was just a crazy coincidence or if something supernatural was going on.  Either way we slept with the lights on the rest of the night.

I know my brother Rick has experienced some supernatural things.  He saw some stuff at our old house in Percival Iowa.  I can't remember exact details, but he says he has experienced this stuff.  He is convinced he has actually seen ghosts.

My mom said that shortly after my dad passed away, she could feel him sitting on the edge of the bed.  She also said that in a dream my dad told her to "Be Careful."  The next day my mom was involved in a crazy accident, and she was able to keep control of the vehicle.  She felt like someone was watching over her.

So the big question is do I believe in Ghosts?  I absolutely believe in spirits.  I have never seen a spirit.  Thank goodness because I would probably pee my pants.  There are times I think I might feel a spirit.   So if you consider ghosts and spirits the same, then yes I believe in Ghosts.

F is for Friends

I am so lucky to have so many great friends growing up.  I would like to introduce you all to my friends.

Kyle Coots-  Kyle was my 1st best friend in elementary school.  I was a shy kid, and he was one of the first kids ever to hang out with me.  We were unseparable.  I remember many a sleepovers playing the Atari 2600 playing baseball, and each of us would get mad because it was incredibly easy to hit home runs in the game.  I remember that our first sleepover.  I know a lot of you will find this gross, but we had a farting contest.  The things boys do! :)  We also would talk about which girls we thought were the cutest.  His family moved to Wisconsin after 6th grade.  I was devastated.  Unfortunately we have lost contact with each other, but I will never forget my first best friend.

Bobby Foote-  Bobby and I became really close after Kyle moved.  I loved Bob and his family.  They were definitely kind of country family.  I remember Bob had a pet raccoon, that we would feed.  Bob and I got in a lot predicaments.  I call one the fishing incident.  Bob and I were fishing in a pond behind his house and he cast back his pole, and the hook went into my arm, fishworm and all.  Now, normal people would have cut the line.  Not Bob and I, we started walking back to the house, with him holding the pole.  Everytime he would jerk a little bit, I'd go "Ouch"  When we got back to the house, his mom cut the line.  Duh!  They then took me to the doctors office where they took the hook out, and gave me tetanus shot.  I remember Bob crying because he hurt me.  The other incident was the bow and arrow incident.  Bob and I were shooting bow and arrows.  One of them went into the road, and I ran out to get it.  All of a sudden I here Bobby yelling "Duck"  Bob had proceeded to shoot a bow straight up in the air and it was coming towards me.  Of course, I am thinking what good is ducking going to do, so I just ran around in circles, and the arrow hit 3 feet from me.  Whew!  Bob and I had so many good times together.  Bob and I lost touch after high school, but I am hoping to build that friendship back up.

Seth Baldwin-  Seth was another really good friend of mine.  Seth and I had a lot of fun at sleepovers.  There are couple of things that come in mind with Seth stories.  I remember doing funny tapes with him.  We would do little skits on the tape recorder.  One was "Dattie and Son" It was hilarious.  I remember we loved to play Mad Libs.  I think Seth and I had the best Mad Libs.  Seth was a very talented trumpet player.  At 6:00 in the morning, he would start playing his trumpet to the tune.  "It's time to get up, It's time to get up, It's time to get up in the morning."  I have a lot of fond memories of Seth.  I am very proud of him.  He is now a lawyer.

Brian Peterson-  Brian and I were close in high school, but we became a lot closer in college and our adult life.  Out of all my friends, I hang out with Brian the most today.  I find it crazy we are so close because Brian and I got at each other's throats so much.  We have a lot of different beliefs about things, but we just have so much fun when we hang out.  Brian and I play a lot of tennis and bowling.  We are super competitive against each other.  We do not want to lose. He has the upper hand in bowling but I will beat you next time.    I remember Brian coming over to our house and my mom made him one of his favorite sandwiches at the time.  It was a peanut butter jelly jelly bean sandwich.  Yuck!   Also, I guess I can't get enough of Brian.  Brian went to Northwest, I went to Northwest.  Brian moved to Minnesota.  I moved to North Dakota, not too far away.  He moved to Kansas City.  I moved to Kansas City.  It is almose like I was stalking him.  I am very happy for my friend Brian right now as he has found love in his new wife Vicki.

Jerry Zach- Jerry is the one in the picture.   Jerry was one of my best friends in high school, and became my best friend after school.  I think what made Jerry and I click was we had so much in common. Both Jerry and I are huge sports fans, and Jerry and I could talk about sports all day.  We still do today!  Jerry hung out my house a lot.  I rememeber he would call every day to his mom's work, and I say "May I please speak to Pat Zach"  I was thinking they know who you are Jerry. You can just say "Can I speak to my mom please?"  I remember playing Tecmo Super Bowl until the wee hours in the morning.  Mom would get so mad at us.    I think one of the funniest moments with Jerry was when we went to the Mall of America.  We took the hotel shuttle to the Mall.  We both had a few cocktails.  After a while, I was bound and determined that we weren't going to catch the shuttle back to the hotel.  I was saying "We're not going to make it!  We're not going to make it."  Jerry grabbed my shoulders,  and he said "Damn it Troy, We're gonna make it."  And we did!   Jerry and I don't hang out nearly as much as we used too.  After all, he does have two sets of twins. I hope to reconnect with my good friend Jerry at some point. 

Mike Miller-  I met Mike in college.  We were freshman, and the movie Lean On Me was playing, and he came over and sat by me.  I was so thankful he did because we have been really good friends since then. 
Mike has the most wit that I know.  He can have a conversation with anyone and make them feel like he has known them for years. He has a very kind heart.  My wife is a little scared of him now because of his taste in music.  lol.  Mike and I went through a lot in college, but we had so much fun.  We had a lot of fun at parties.  I probably shouldn't go into a lot of details about those parties. :) Let's just say we had a great time.  We also loved going to Bearcat games.  I remember heckling the team we were playing.  Finally, the guy turned around, and told us he was going to kick our butts after the game.  We also enjoyed giving our friend Janice a hard time.  I don't think Mike thought I would go down and tell this guy that Janice thought he was hot. I of course did it and embarassed the heck out of her.   Earlier in my life, I was more shy and timid.  I think Mike really opened me up more and I became a lot more outgoing thanks to him.  I still hang out Mike quite a bit.  He is married to the lovely Jami, and has two wonderful kids.

Of course my very best friend is my lovely wife Misty.  These people along with my parents did the most in shaping how my life has turned out.  I am very lucky to have friends like these.

E is for Engagement

On a cool October evening I made a decision that was going to change my life forever.  I knew the time was right.   Tonight was the night I was going to ask Misty Dawn Corn to marry me. 

As you all know, I am married to the greatest woman in the world Misty.  :)  After our 1st date, I knew there was something special about her.  She took a little more convincing but by the third date, she started to come around.  Our relationship grew quickly. and after a few months I realized Misty was who I wanted to spend the rest of my days with.   I was going to ask her to marry me.  We talked about it before, and she had a feeling something was up that night.  I am usually terrible about keeping surprises from Misty.  She usually is able to get it out of me.  This time, she was taken totally by surprise with the events of the evening.
So here is the story of our Engagement Night. 

It was on a Friday.  Misty got up in the morning, and kissed me goodbye and headed to work.  Then I went into action.  I decorated the apartment with a bunch of streamers and balloons.  I also had little memories all over the apartment, of remember whens.  They were special moments in our relationship.   I also got her a huge card about the size of a movie poster.  I also prepared a scavenger hunt for her.  So after I got all this set up, I was off to the Sheraton Suites at the plaza.  My friend Brian came there and helped me get set up, and he was also was going to pick up Misty.  The last clue of the before mentioned scavenger hunt led her to the computer where she turned it on and it said "Your driver will be here shortly."   He was under strict orders not to tell Misty where she was going. 

I originally was going to propose to her at the end of the date, but I couldn't wait.  I decided to propose when she got there.  I put some rose petals on the floor that let to the bedroom in the suite.  I put the ring on the bed, so that when she opened the french door, the ring would be right there.  I then hid in the bathroom and was going to come out after she saw the ring.  The plan was in action.  Brian dropped off Misty, pinned a corsage on her, and sent her up to my room.  She came into the room, followed the roses and she opened the french doors to the bedroom and gasped.  I then came out of the bathroom, got on one knee and proposed to her.  I of course was a blumbering mess.  She said YES!!!  And all was good in the world!

We didn't have too much time to celebrate.  I had a full evening planned.  The first thing we did was a Cinderella carriage ride on the plaza.  We felt like a prince and princess.  I think a lot of people thought we just got married.  It was really romantic.  It was really chilly that night so we cuddled pretty close.  Very Nice.

After the carriage ride, I had dinner reservations for at Figlios.  It was a very romantic Italian restaurant.  The food was amazing.

I had one other thing planned.  This was supposed to be where I was going to propose.  We had a Gondala Ride on Brush Creek.  It was so romantic, as we felt like we were in Italy.  It was a great setting until the Gondalier asked me if I could pick up this object in the water.  Misty was thinking why the heck does he want us to pick up trash?  She was really confused.  When we got closer, she realized it was a decorated bottle with a cork on top, and then she figured out what was going on. Inside was my proposal letter that I wrote.  I set this up with the gondalier a few weeks before.  This was supposed to be the moment I proposed.  Basically, Misty got two proposals from me in one evening.  :)

We then back in the hotel room and had a couple cocktails and called our parents with the news.

This was one of the best nights of my life.  I am so thankful that God brought Misty to me.

D is for Dog

They say Man's best friend is a dog.  I would say Man's best nuisance would be dog.  We have a chiahua named Mya that fooled me into getting her.  She looked at me with those sad eyes, and really curled up the me when I held her, and I said this is the dog I want. 

Little did I know, she was putting on an act.  When we got home, she took off through the house like a tanzmanian devil  I have never seen a dog that could jump that far.  We also got cheesesticks that night and next thing you know she has two cheesesticks hanging out the side of her mouth.   And of course all those cheesesticks came up later that night, and I had to clean it up.

She also is a beggar everytime we eat.  She stares at me waiting for me to drop something.  She knows I am the sucker though because I am the one that gives her food.

Right now she is on the kick of eating underwear and tolilet paper rolls.  She is definately annoying.

But after saying all that, I don't know what we would do without her.  She is the most loving dog and loves to cuddle next to you.  She likes to wear outfits. Misty enjoys going clothes shopping for Mya. We love it when she curls up with us when we go to bed.   She provides us with entertainment with some of her crazyiness, and you know exactly what she is thinking because she is very expressive.

She might be annoying but I am real happy we have her.

C is for Careers

Who would have thought once I moved to Kansas City, I would be builidng my career in the casino business?  I sure didn't.  Once I got in it, I was hooked.  I have been in the casino business getting close to 11 years now.  It hasn't always been that easy. 

I got my first job when I was in 4th grade, I believe.  I was a newspaper carrier for the Omaha World Herald.  It was a great learning experience, and it was nice having that little bit of money to spend at the end of the month. Unfortunately, I spent most my money on candy, particulary candy corn.  I am not sure why I was obsessed with those.  It had to be Brachs candy corn.  It couldn't be any of that other stuff. Also, I had an experience where a big St. Bernard tackled me.  I thought I was a goner but all he wanted to do was lick my face.   Anyway I delivered the newspaper for about 6 years.  I then get my first real job as a dishwasher at the American Legion.  I remember my first day was during rodeo week in Sidney, and the dishwashing machine broke and I had to do all the dishes by hand.  I can't believe I came back for day 2. 

In college, I decided not to work.  I wanted to concentrate on my studies.  My junior year though, I decided to make a little extra money and worked at ITZA Pizza on campus at Northwest Missouri State.  It was a lot of fun.  I really enjoyed driving the golf carts around to deliver the pizzas.  It sucked though when you were trying to carry 8 flimsy glasses up a bunch of stairs though. 

I majored in Geography in college, and after college I got a job in Fargo, North Dakota as a geographer at a company called NAVTEC.  Basically I made maps for in car navigation systems.  It was a fun job, but after two horrific winters, I decided I had enough of Fargo.  I remember waking up and actually could not find my car in the morning because it was buried in the snow.  I also had never heard of plugging in your car???

So after receiving a job offer from Omaha, I decided to move back home to Iowa.  After I got home, the company closed down.  Unfortunately, there just wasn't many opportunities out there.

So in 1997, I took a job to be the Circulation Manager of the Nebraska City News-Press.  I really loved that job and working with and developing those carriers.  I do consider it one of the most rewarding positions I ever had.  I tell people all the time if I wasn't laid off  after 2 years there, I would probably still be there.  Even though it was just kids, I really enjoyed the joy in their face when I would award them with "Carrier of the Month"  It was at this moment that I really thought getting a job in employment would be good for me.

So after dabbling in a couple of other circulation jobs for the Omaha World Herald and the Albert Lea Tribune in Minnesota, I realized it just wasn't the same as the newspress, and I decided to get out of the newspaper business.

Then I got my favorite seasonal job of all time.  They hired me as a speech/drama director at Farragut High School.  Theatre is a passion of mine, so this was a great opportunity for me.  I loved working with the high school kids, and we ended up going to All-State in two events.  We took home All-State in Group Mime.  I was so excited for those kids. I am glad we got there because when we left, we almost got sideswiped by a semi.  Scary Stuff!   I wish I could have stayed there longer but unfortunately it wasn't a permanent position.

In 2001, I moved to Kansas City with a friend of mine.  Shortly after I interviewed here, I thought it would be cool to work at a hotel, so I interviewed at Ameristar Casino for a Front Desk Agent position, and I was offered the position on the spot.  A week later, they decided to move me to Reservations which was fine because they had an opening there as well.  This was just supposed to be a job I was going to have until I found a better job.  The casino environment lured me in, and I worked with a great bunch of people.  I loved my job at Ameristar.  I was offered a lead position after a few months there.  Next thing I know, I was there almost 6 years.  I didn't have plans to really leave Ameristar unless it was the perfect opportunity. 

That perfect opportunity came at Argosy Casino.  Argosy was building a brand new hotel, and they were looking to staff it.  One of the HR staff from Argosy called me to tell me that I should apply.  I was torn because I was making more money at Ameristar, but the opportunity to open a brand new hotel lured me in, and I decided to interview at Argosy, and was offered a position there.  It was an awesome experience opening the hotel. 

After the hotel was open, I wanted to branch out, and human resources was something I was interested in every since working at the News-Press. In the summer of 2007 I was given that opportunity.  I am now the HR Coordinator at Argosy.  Really, it should be Employment Coordinator or Specialist because I work primarily in Employment.  The joy you see when someone is offered a position.  To be able to help people in their time of need.  There is no better feeling.  I hope to keep moving up at Argosy Casino because I honestly don't think there is a better company out there.  I couldn't ask for a better team to work with.

B is for Baseball

B is for Baseball.   You know Spring is coming when Baseball starts.  I remember growing up and my dad and I would watch Cubs games.  We were huge fans of the Chicago Cubs.  That was back in the day of Ryne Sandberg, Jody Jody Davis "King of Wrigley Field."  Harry Caray fans would get that reference.  I remember when my dad would fall asleep as he was watching the game and my mom would come in and try to change the channel, and my dad would yell "I WAS WATCHING THAT!"  You didn't want to mess with my dad and his Cubbies.  My dad was a real man's man.  He knew how to fix things. One of his favorite places to be was the garage working on the truck.    I definitely didn't get that from my dad.  And all though my passion for the game has dwindled a little over the year, I will never forget the days of sitting at home and watching the Cubbies with my dad.  It is a memory I will cherish forever