DE RIEN

       That's French for "nothing."
       Miss Lillian asked for a weekday off, so she's working Sundays (today and perhaps next Sunday).
       At first, I was down and out about having to miss MY Sunday at the shelter. But, you know, it's not about me. If the shelter residents can survive 6 months of "incarceration," I can certainly endure one or two Sundays away from them.
       Which reminds me: It has come to my attention that at least one reader doesn't understand this shelter's version of "homeless." Our homeless are "residential homeless." They are people who have no place to go... but who have qualified for this shelter's program. They can stay there for as long as 6 months, provided they find a job and a place to live in the meantime. The shelter helps them with these endeavors. I think most folks complete the program, but I don't have any real statistics on that. I do know that our pre-release prisoners face those same criteria, and I have seen some of them fall back into the deeper aspects of the system.
       Because there appears to be a Master Plan for all things... it turned out that I scarfed up NINETEEN pristine Beanie Babies today for $5 at a flea market! Had I been at the shelter, I would certainly not have had the energy to attend the market; so, someday when I return to the kitchen, I will have a greater bounty of fun to share with the children.
       Joey has not affirmed my position for next Sunday... so we will all have to wait and see. À bientôt—that's French for "see you soon."