TGIF and thoughts on HOSPICE

Not a very original title, but man am I glad it's Friday. It's been a long week of death, death, and more death. I suppose I'm "getting used" to doing hospice work in nursing homes, but I don't like it. They're like holding pens for the most part. I know there isn't much of an alternative sometimes and I did use one for my own mum, but I just wish there was another way that was available to most people.

I suspect they're getting somewhat better in general with the population aging. Mayhap we demand more? Mayhap we're coming to realize that the "Boomers" will be there soon and we'd better make improvements now? I dunno. Maybe this new paradigm, which I'm a part of, is the answer. Having hospice inside the facilities does add an extra layer of care, more eyes, more hands and more individualized attention. Maybe I'm actually a part of the answer. Now there's a comforting thought.

I wish my mom had been on hospice. I'm not even sure they had it in the area where she was back then. I didn't know about it anyway. Hopefully people are being educated about it. I'm being tasked for community education on the topic. I've already done some and have a lot on my upcoming schedule. I think I need to really think about it in terms of how to better design the right 'clips' of information for presentation to make a real difference. It is evolving as I speak. I need to get more involved in the community hospice sharing groups so I stay on the cutting edge.

My daughter got her drivers license this morning. She was very good about letting me give her guidance about the areas the first test-person downgraded her on. I'm proud of the way she is maturing.

I'm starting to get that old itch to go back to school again. I can either do an DMin or a PhD or even another Masters degree. After seminary was over I thought I'd NEVER want to go back again. I think the DMin would make the most sense. However, it's the 'where' I have to consider. I will not go back to the seminary from which I graduated. Austin Presbyterian Theological is an excellent seminary and I'm glad to have my degree from there. However, I was caught in the middle of some serious growing pains and my children and I were treated like DIRT while I was a student. The last time I went onto campus I came close to having a real live panic attack. I had to leave a workshop and haven't stepped back on campus since. There is always the Episcopal Seminary of the Southwest which is also excellent. They offer a Masters in Pastoral Counseling which might be very good for me to consider. That way I could take the state exams and hang a shingle if I wanted to. Menh. We'll see.