...it's been a long day...

I was up early to collect the dirty clothes, start the laundry, eat breakfast, answer emails, vacuum, workout, fold laundry, shower and get ready, spend 4 hours at work for student evaluations, come home, fold more laundry, go through paperwork, eat dinner, put away laundry and scrub the tub!

Yes, our tub was looking disturbingly dirty. (Please don't judge me...the last time I remember cleaning it was in October! I know...I'm gross.) So I found a respected tub scrubbing mixture on Pinterest and thought I would give it a try.

About the time I entered kindergarten, my mom decided to start her own house cleaning business. I watched as she grew her clientele, hired workers, and made big business decisions. And when I was 12, I was tasked to spend my summers working alongside her. Imagine being allergic to dust and mold and spending your summers indoors cleaning other people's houses. This might be the reason that I abhor certain chores!

But I learned a lot of great lessons during those hot summer months, like, if you're going to do a job, do it well. My mom was a stickler for things being done correctly, and if they weren't, she made sure I redid them. But my favorite lessons were learned driving to and from different jobs with my mom and her closest friend, Vera.

This spicy Lebanese lady and my momma were two very different women. One clear picture of this would be the countless times that Vera would hang her head out of the car window, so as to scream at bad drivers on the road, while my mom, both horrified and embarrassed, would beg her to get back in the car. (These were the moments when Vera would teach me to cuss in Syrian. She also taught me that there's a difference between cussing at someone and cursing someone. Her favorite curse? “May the fleas of a thousand camels find happiness in your armpits!”)

But these differences could not hamper their harmony, or maybe they wouldn't let it. I was too young to know the difference. They would chat and laugh and argue and conspire, and I was given the opportunity to witness their unlikely friendship. The kind of friendship that looks past race and status to see the character of a person. The kind of friendship that stretches beyond the confines of work and survives into the struggles of old age. The kind of friendship that sits up with you in the kitchen while death knocks at the door.

When I think back on it now, it might not have been such a bad way to spend the summer.

Before and After.  I see a difference!

I remember asking my mom why she started cleaning houses. She said that she didn't mind cleaning and that it gave her time to think and be quiet. But mostly, she said that it was because we didn't have a lot of money, and she wanted to be able to buy nice things for her kids.

That's how awesome my mom is...

I don't know that my mom's life was what she dreamed it would be, but she made something wonderful out of it, nonetheless. I hope I can follow her example.

Here's is the recipe for the tub scrub mixture. Give it a try and let me know if it makes your tub all sparkly!