Come Take A Look At My Little Nook - A to Z Challenge - The Letter N

Blogging from A to Z Challenge
April 2016
This month I will be participating in the “Blogging from A-Z Challenge” 
What is it?

Blogging every day.  It begins on April First with a topic themed on something with the letter A, then on April second another topic with the letter B as the theme, and so on until I finish on April thirtieth with the theme based on the letter Z.   The theme of the day is the letter scheduled for that day.

My Nook

There is a corner in my living room that I claim as my own.
An easy chair upholstered in a faded pattern of muted red and white roses sits in my corner.  We acquired the chair a dozen years ago at an auction.  The items included in that auction came from a group of model homes.
In the front of the chair is an ottoman with a fleur de lis pattern which matches the colors in the fabric of the chair. We bought that piece at a different auction, on a different day.
The view from my nook depends on which way my head is turned.
If I'm looking straight ahead, I see the TV.
If I turn my head slightly to the right, my gaze slips along the foyer and then follows through the door of the den where my eyes finally rest on the ceiling to floor front windows.  I can easily get lost in my thoughts watching the finches flying in and out of the red tipped photinia shrub.
Turning my head further to the right, I have a view of the front door skylight windows and I can see the top branches of our front yard tree.
To my left is the gas fireplace.  At eye level, I see the glass enclosed pit, stacked with phony logs.
If I tilt my head up slightly, I see the mantle.  I like the way I decorated the mantle.  It has several unusual and meaningful items.
Placed on either side of the mantle is a pair of large vintage brass swans.  They are probably circa 1960.  We got those at yet another auction.  I think we paid about $25 for both.  I recently saw the identical ones online. They were priced at $650 for the pair.
Hanging above the mantle is an oval mirror.  Carved into the walnut frame of the mirror is a pair of  swan heads.
In addition to randomly placed odd shaped pieces of coral, there is a glass jar filled with river and beach rocks picked up by Ross over many years.
Craning my neck to look over my shoulder to my right I see the shards of light filtering through the blinds.  I like sitting in my nook later in the afternoon because that’s when the sun shines there.

My nook is where I settle for writing, with my knees bent, my feet propped up on the ottoman and my laptop on, well where else, my lap of course. 

Do you have a special writing place?

Ross’ Maserati - A to Z Challenge - The Letter M

Blogging from A to Z Challenge
April 2016
This month I will be participating in the “Blogging from A-Z Challenge” 
What is it?

Blogging every day.  It begins on April First with a topic themed on something with the letter A, then on April second another topic with the letter B as the theme, and so on until I finish on April thirtieth with the theme based on the letter Z.   The theme of the day is the letter scheduled for that day.

Who Wants to Be A Millionaire?

We currently are not millionaires.  We have maxed out our earning potential.  Which is to say we are retired and living on fixed incomes.   Therefore, it's safe to say that we will never be millionaires.
We do, however, occasionally buy lottery tickets.  We were in it to win it when the jackpot of the Powerball Lottery topped out at 1.5 billion.
Ross and I played the game of "What would you want to do if we won?"
Of course, there was the obvious,  taking care of the kids and their kids.
But then there was the beach house we would buy, no make that the beach we would buy.
We discussed second and third homes and of course, the Maserati that Ross covets.

Oh and if any one of our siblings is reading this, we kindly included you too.
If we had won the Powerball and had taken the lump sum option the payout would have been 930 million.  After taxes, the total amount paid would have been about 500 million.
The odds of winning were 1 in 292 million.
None the less, I was unrealistically bummed out when our numbers were not picked.
Sincerely, though, aside from the fact that such a huge sum of money would have eased the financial burden that some of our family struggle with, personally I sincerely don't care about being a millionaire.
Simply because there are things I have that are more valuable to me than money.
And simply because, having five hundred million dollars could not possibly mend my broken heart.

The Lurker - A to Z Blogger Challenge - The Letter L

Blogging from A to Z Challenge
April 2016
This month I will be participating in the “Blogging from A-Z Challenge” 
What is it?

Blogging every day.  It begins on April First with a topic themed on something with the letter A, then on April second another topic with the letter B as the theme, and so on until I finish on April thirtieth with the theme based on the letter Z.   The theme of the day is the letter scheduled for that day.

Lurker

Sounds creepy, right?
I will admit I am a lurker and to the best of my knowledge, no one has ever described me as creepy.
So where do I lurk?  Well, I hang around other people's blogs and check Facebook every day (okay, more than once a day).  I'm not on Twitter as much and hardly ever check Instagram.  When I do go on those sites, I guess you could say I lurk there also.
Now before I go on I want to make something perfectly clear, I am a lurker, not a stalker.  There is a difference, you know.
Stalkers are predators.  They hunt and pursue.  I don't do that!
Lurkers, like myself, are frequent visitors but don't always make their presence known.
Although I will use the reactions buttons on Facebook, I seldom comment.
Specifically regarding blog posts, with only a few exceptions, I rarely leave a comment.
Just in case you are starting to wonder if there is an element of creepiness involved here, perhaps I should explain why I "lurk".

My top ten reasons why I don't comment on a blog or Facebook post.

10. By the time I read the post, there are tons of comments and I can't think of anything new to say.
9. I don't think the poster cares what I think, really.
8. For the posts from the witty people, I can't compete with your cleverness.
7. You don't comment on my posts, so... (so childish)
6.  I'm too shy.
5.  I have no knowledge of the subject matter and wouldn't have much to contribute.
4. My mother taught me that if you can't say something nice...
3. Although I enjoy reading topical and controversial posts, I like to keep those opinions to myself.
2.  I'll get to it later, but don't.
1. The poster never responds to my comments or worse yet doesn't even post my comment.

But I must say, participating in the A to Z challenge has made me less of a lurker and more of a participant.   And that is much more rewarding and fun!

Hey, you.  Yeah, you over in the corner.   What do you have to say?