Cleaning. How did I choose cleaning? Of all the things I could have done with my life, why cleaning? At first the dream was to become an Executive Chef. I wanted to be a chef for a fancy hotel, to run my own kitchen and eventually make enough money to open my own PJ’s franchise. And guess what? I did that. Almost. During college I started an internship at The Ritz Carlton at only 18 years old, and worked on the line for the in house restaurant called M Bistro. I learned all of the stations and eventually I was promoted to a Cook II and transferred to the Garde Manger department. (Garde Manger is the cold kitchen for all the large functions in the hotel). I quickly rose in position and became the Chef de Partie (Supervisor) of Garde Manger. When I graduated college, I quickly married my best friend and 3 months later I was pregnant.
4 months later
I received the shock of a lifetime when I was told, “Do you see what I’m seeing?” asked my doctor. As I'm looking at the monitor on the wall, there are 2 mirror images of a baby on the screen “Is that 2?” I asked. “Yep, you have two little babies in there” the doctor said with a grin.
Wow, what a shocker. Ok. 2 babies. At the same time. 2.
I was ecstatic, scared, worried, blissful, petrified… every emotion rushed through me. Every day I went through the rollercoaster of emotions and I kept getting stuck with the question, “How am I going to be a chef in New Orleans with two little babies on the Northshore? How can I make this work?” I was living out my dream. I was a Chef. In a fancy Hotel. Running my own kitchen. Saving money. Now what?
I pushed aside the impending doom of potentially losing my dream job. I thought, “I'll figure it out.” or “It's a problem for another day.” I worked all the way up to a week before my scheduled C section. My co workers looked at me with such sympathy and almost worry in their eyes. I was huge. Like, so big that I could barely touch my fingertips around the front of my belly. Go ahead. Try it. Isn't that big!? Waddling around the kitchens. Trekking up and down stairs. Working large functions for 12-16 hours at a time. I was determined not to let my pregnancy slow me down. Until I had no other choice.
Maternity Leave.
If you know me, slowing down was NOT in my vocabulary. I was constantly on the move. When I had “free time” I would clean or organize my room, apartment and then home. Rearrange furniture. Working out and going for walks/runs at the park. Spending a lot of my money on new restaurants or buying ingredients to try a new recipe from my John Folse cookbook. Going to the movies. You get the idea. So, when I had l to literally come to a screaming HALT, and went from 1,000 MPH to 0 MPH, my life flipped upside down. I could barely walk. It felt like there was a bowling ball between my legs. My hips hurt. They hurt bad. When I went into my scheduled C section, the doctor did a quick eval. to see where the babies were. She looked up at me and her eyes were super big. She looked very concerned and said, “You do realize you are fully dilated? We need to get you in the Operating Room now.”
2 ½ months later
I checked out every daycare in my area and I found the perfect one. Super close to my house. Great hours. It was awesome. It was expensive… but they all were. It was worth it because I was excited to get back to work. I was ready to be in my zone again, running around a kitchen, being around people. I drove up to the daycare for their first day, walked into the door with both babies in their car seat carriers on either arm. I looked at my baby girls and I COULD NOT DO IT. I could not leave them. I turned around and walked back to my car.
15 months later
I love my babies, but I am not stay-at-home material. Again, I am a busy body. Being cooped up in my home all day every day was driving me insane. I couldn’t go back to the city, it's too far away from my girls. What should I do? Then, I instantly had a memory of me being with my mom when I was a little one and “helping” her clean homes. I can do that. I can clean homes. That's how Camellia Cleaning Service was born.
Authored By:
Gina Chauvin
Camellia Cleaning Service
