Pets

For the New Widow: Ten Tips to Help Her Survive…After the Funeral

You’re at home now. A moment ago you stood over a hole in the ground. She blew a kiss, threw a rose, sprinkled a shovelful of dirt on a coffin, and said goodbye to her husband, her soul mate, the best friend she ever had.

As you move around waving to hungry strangers, someone whispers that the woman wandering around with mayonnaise on her chin is your mother’s sister’s next door neighbor’s cousin’s dog sitter. It’s a scene out of Star Wars, the one in the bar, and you feel trapped in it. Before long everyone is gone, even the dog walker with the dirty face. The door closes and reality sets in. He doesn’t come home. Ever. And in those first days after the funeral, performing the simplest tasks will seem monumental. You wonder can I do it – without Him?

You may. And you will.

Here are ten tips to help you survive…after the funeral:

1. Say yes to a friend, close relative, or good neighbor, who offers to stay the night (or longer), while you slide into something uncomfortable: widowhood.

Don’t be alone that first night, unless you have no other choice. The first nights without Him sting like a bee and an angel to sit quietly at your kitchen table, to turn off the lights, to turn off the cell phone, to prepare a cup of tea while you put the children to bed, walk the dog . , feed the cat, it’s like aloe on sunburn.

2. Carry a small notebook. and pen

Take them with you everywhere, even to the bathroom. The new widows are left without toothpaste, toilet paper, tissues, ear swabs and lipstick. And they forget. If you have a pen and notebook handy, you won’t forget to write down the article. You won’t forget to buy it. You will learn structure and focus, something every new widow needs. And running an errand will get you out of the house.

3. Know your financial status.

As soon as practical, make an appointment with your accountant, attorney, and broker. Group your papers, bank statements, insurance policies, will and pending bills. Please review them before your appointment. You have problems? Write them down – In that little notebook, remember? The one in your bag.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions. You’re a new widow, and there’s no such thing as a “dumb” question. In fact, burying that word “silly”. You are in charge now. Information is crucial to your survival. And for God’s sake, if he doesn’t know how to balance a checkbook, ask.

4. Pay off the mortgage. And the electric.

Other bills can be postponed, temporarily, but not these two. You can lie down and wish your world would go away after you’ve written these two checks and entered the data in your check register, or that little notebook, the one in your bag. Don’t forget to put a stamp on the envelopes. Don’t forget to mail them. Once again, it will give you a reason to get out of the house.

5. Take care of yourself – Comb your hair, wash your face, brush your teeth, apply lipstick – Do it every day. Even if you don’t leave home.

Don’t cut your hair. This is not the time. Not unless you have a standing appointment and are comfortable sitting in a chair for any amount of time. On the long list of things that will make a new widow feel worse, one bad hair day for her over the next six months shoots to the top. I suggest delaying a haircut for at least three months. If you find your hair too messy, put it in a ponytail and tie it with a ribbon. What? No tape? What’s that pink thing in that fruit basket?

6. Take care of your children.

If you have small children, do not neglect them. They need you. Feed them, even if it’s cold cereal. Wash your clothes and your faces. Remind them to gently brush their teeth. Don’t be afraid to hug and cuddle them. Tell them everything will be fine.

7. Walk the dog.
Change the cat litter.
Make sure all household pets are fed and have access to fresh water. It’s not unpleasant to fill a sink with tap water or leave the toilet seat up. Just remember to flush.

Don’t get mad when Barky has an accident, when Kitty scratches the rug, or if they chase each other’s tails. Pets cry too. Watch for behaviors that may require a trip to the vet.

8. Take out the trash.

Don’t wait until the kitchen smells like spoiled ground beef and sour milk. There is no excuse if you live alone. Put on a robe and take out the trash. A family of creepy things is the last thing you want as company.

9. Eat. No hunger? Drinking water. Keep hydrated.

Don’t drink alcohol. Not even a beer. Even if you’ve always had a glass of wine with dinner, don’t. At least temporarily. And if you’ve never drank before, don’t start now.

10. Cry.

Tears cleanse and will help eliminate pain. The only way to process the grievance is through it, not around it, under it, or over it. That means crying. So don’t be afraid to let it out. Don’t be afraid to ask for help, call a doctor, a psychologist, a complaints counselor. Don’t be afraid to join a bereavement group. A new widow needs to get out of the house. She needs structure. She needs support. And more importantly, she needs to know that she is not alone.

Life won’t be the same without Him. That’s for sure. But after the funeral, following these tips will help you, the new widow, as she develops coping mechanisms, focus, and strategies to help herself as she moves through the early stages of the grievance.

Real Estate

Bank Owned Homes: Saving for Rainy Days

The continuing flood of bank-owned homes into the foreclosure market appears to have no end in sight. The market is dealing with low to moderate demand for these houses and this situation creates great opportunities for people who have the current financial ability to purchase a property.

A case for bank-owned homes

Whether it’s a first-time purchase or a way to improve one’s equity, bank-owned homes are the ideal type of affordable property that buyers should prioritize. The reason many banks carry such large inventories of foreclosures is because banks are the primary providers of home loans. When your debtors fall behind on their mortgage payments, the foreclosure process begins. Banks do not put these houses back on the market for profit. They are interested in simply breaking even or recouping their losses from the mortgage default.

And because competition for buyers is fierce, banks are coming up with ideas on how to sell their foreclosures. It is worth noting the great discounts they offer for wholesale buyers. Many real estate investors take advantage of these wholesale deals and resell the houses individually for a significant markup.

Individual buyers will find it infinitely easier to negotiate with banks for discounts and other concessions. They will particularly appreciate the fact that bank-owned homes come with clear titles because it will save them the hassle of conducting a title search. Banks even go the extra mile and offer title insurance along with homes. If you want to start saving for your future, buying bank foreclosures is a sensible direction to go. They are sold at low prices and come with a series of incentives and advantages to generate interest and attract sales.

Tours Travel

The music that forged the counterculture revolution of the 1960s

The counterculture revolution of the 1960s is one of the most significant steps in Western cultural development in the 20th century. From the beginning of its creation to its peak during the Vietnam War, music was a great source of its driving force, contributing to the achievements it helped bring about, but also laying some of the foundation for its downfall.

With a focal point around the United States and the United Kingdom, its influence spread throughout Western civilization and beyond, but it’s hard to say where it all began. However, the most important ingredient in its development was the growing distrust in the established order of things, and in particular in the senators, congressmen and presidents who were pulling the strings. The increased tension of the cold war, the fear of the bomb, the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, racial segregation and the right to vote, the persecution of the communists and the Cuban communist regime, police brutality, The Vietnam War and the rise in the use of all psychedelic drugs merged in the 1960s and early 1970s to fuel the fires of the counterculture movement.

Music was at the center of everything from the folk movement led by Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs and Dave Van Ronk to the release of “Revolution 1” on the Beatles’ White Album. Music provided the children of the counterculture revolution with new sources of inspiration and a center around which to settle their discontent with the established order of play.

In addition to the songs and bands that spoke of protest in one way or another, there were also those that spoke of freedom in general, pushing the rules of the convention to the limit. The lyrics of the Velvet Underground, for example, include references to transgenderism, homosexuality and drug use in a way that has never been seen before, while bands like the Beach Boys are cited as great defenders of peace, love And understanding.

One of the biggest things that developed out of the 1960s and early 1970s counterculture is the large-scale music festival. Folk festivals were well established by the early 1960s – Bob Dylan’s electric guitar at the 1965 Newport Fold Festival achieved near-legendary status, for example – but it wasn’t until the Monterey Pop Festival, which launched Jimi Hendrix to the big stage. the Isle of White and Woodstock Festivals that the idea really took off. The fact that these types of festivals have become so widespread in recent years is a testament to the musical legacy of the ’60s.

The counterculture movement came to a halt around ’73 and ’74 with the end of the Vietnam War, Nixon’s presidential resignation, and the implosion, corruption, and exploitation of the free love era. Whether it ended with the removal of things to protest, the shift away from psychedelics like the coup of choice, or disenfranchisement with the excessive hedonism that characterized the later parts of the movement, it’s hard to say for sure, but the The impact of everything that happened during that period is still felt today, including the music that helped produce it and helped produce it. Civil rights became universal, new forms of expression were accepted, wars ended, and music was made.