Tony Brewer

I really love cheap rugs.  They are a quick and easy way to change the ambiance of a room. I especially like area rugs because you can use them to anchor a conversation area in a larger room, creating a cozy intimate feeling for just that area.  Don’t get me wrong, I also enjoy a good looking floor, but when you use area rugs you get the best of both worlds – the warmth of beautiful rugs being outlined by a beautiful wood or tile floor.

Some people say that when they want to redecorate their homes that they will use paint.  Yes, paint is inexpensive, but it is a lot of work!  I much prefer having a nice neutral background color on my walls as a “canvas” and then change the art work, the slipcovers on the furniture, and the rugs.

A great place to buy area rugs online is the superiorrugs.com website.  They have thousands of different rugs to choose from.  They have a lot of rugs on clearance, of up to 80% off, which make those rugs a really great bargain!  They have a 110% price match guarantee, offer free shipping, and a 30 day money back guarantee.  You can’t get much better than that!

I was looking through their website earlier and just fell right in love with one of the clearance rugs.  I think I’ll order that and give it to Teri as one of her Christmas gifts.  It is listed at 81% off retail, and has a 15 year manufacturer guarantee that the colors will not run.  I can’t see where it says the style name of the rug on the website, but the pattern reminds me of a peacock’s tail; it’s very striking.  And the earthtone colors will fit in perfectly and warm up the conversation area in front of the fireplace in the living room.

As we were going through our list of people to buy gifts for yesterday, the topic of re-gifting surfaced.  Teri thinks that re-gifting is tacky and doesn’t want to do it.  I think that it makes perfect sense.  We have so many items in our basement that we were given as gifts that we’ve never even opened that would make wonderful gifts – for someone else!  There is really nothing wrong with most of them (OK, some of them are clothes that are the wrong size or not a flattering color) they just are items that don’t fit into our livestyle, or personal preferences or tastes. 

In some cases we already have two or three of the item and don’t need a fourth or fifth one!  For example, coffee mugs!  We must have five dozen coffee mugs!  Many of them brand new!  What’s wrong with taking some of them and filling them with candy and wrapping them up all nice and pretty and giving them as some of the “token gifts” that so many people give to co-workers?  And what’s wrong with giving those brown gloves (Teri likes black) that Teri’s Aunt Sue gave her last year to my Aunt Georgia this year?  They’ll never know, and Aunt Georgia will love them!  What do YOU think about re-gifting?  Tacky, or practical?

Since Teri wasn’t feeling well (as I previously mentioned in an earlier post today) I agreed to do the grocery shopping alone early this morning.  We try to go take care of that early on a Sunday morning, to avoid the crowds.  We usually shop together, but I took pity on Teri and did it alone today.  I don’t like doing it alone, I’m always concerned that I’ll buy the wrong item.  Oh well, I do my best and that’s all you can expect from a guy, right? Right! 

Anyway, I came home with the groceries and was putting them away.  I washed the lettuce and drained it and then wrapped it in a couple of layers of paper towels and put it into a zipper-type plastic gallon storage bag.  Teri and I discovered this method a couple of years ago.  I just wanted to share this tip with you because if you do this you don’t need to buy any of those fancy-schmancy lettuce keepers.  Wrapping it in paper towels and then putting it in a storage bag and sealing it will keep it crisp and fresh for up to a whole month!  Try it for yourself and see!  You’ll be thanking me for the great tip!

There is a small town near where I live that up until this week had only one fast food restaurant, one grocery store, one bank, two gas stations, and two schools.  I drive through it on my way to and from work many days.  I have been interested to notice that they finally have a second fast food restaurant!  It just opened up, with great fanfare. 

By great fanfare, I mean that they had costumed people standing by the side of the road dancing and waving their arms to get the attention of the passing motorists who zip past at fifty miles an hour!  Right before the restaurant opened I was thinking that it was going to be one of those places that actually houses two restaurants in one building because the awnings on one side are red, and the other are green, but now it looks as if it is all just one restaurant.  I had not noticed that type of “treatment” before; I think that is a little bit strange, don’t you?

I have to wonder how well that restaurant will do.  It is only the second fast food place in that town, but the economy is suffering.  Maybe the location close to the schools will help – some of the school’s employees (and some of the seniors) might go there for lunch.

As you may remember, several months ago Teri’s brother came to live with us.  He had gotten into trouble with a drunk driving charge and his girlfriend had kicked him out of her place, so he begged us to let him stay with us while he got on his feet.  Well it turns out that alcohol is not his only problem, he’s also addicted to drugs. I was very unhappy about that, and reluctantly agreed that he could stay with us for a short time with the stipulation that he get into a good Drug Rehab Program.

So far he has been behaving himself pretty well, but still has not followed through on the Drug Rehab promise he had made to us.  Well, over Thanksgiving I was talking to his parents, and they have offered to pay for him to go to a really great Drug Rehab Center called Cliffside Malibu.  They have an aunt that went there and when she got out she had nothing but nice things to say about the place.  Cliffside Malibu is a first class residential rehabilitation center that gives their clients the feeling that they are living in the lap of luxury while they are undergoing customized treatment for their personal addiction problems.  I really like the idea of sending him to Cliffside; it sounds like a great place for him to go and get the help he needs.