Retirement

Who am I? My bug room is cold, my bug room is quiet. I have lost my identity, they say we are defined by our job. Am I still “the bug lady”? I think so, I hope so, it’s all very weird and as someone who has always hated ‘change’, it’s difficult. I’m really glad I kept a tank of Hissing cockroaches, I always said that I would and I find it strangely grounding. The tank is now full of hissing cockroaches and anything else that I have found while emptying the room (odd cockroaches, cave crickets, a banded cricket 😂). One thing I love about this blog is that I can now use emojis, my old blog didn’t support them and I love emojis! I hear that I’m not supposed to use certain ones and that some may mean, “not what I intended” but ignorance is bliss so I won’t know unless you tell me 😊

I feel almost as busy as ever but with a lot less stress. The world has become busier and busier, people expect more and more and I needed to get off that crazy roundabout. I’m such a people pleaser that I tried my hardest to keep everyone happy but customers began to confuse me with Amazon 😁 No matter what I put in my terms (which was required to be ticked by everyone placing an order), or on my FAQ page, I was being frequently pushed. Someone wanted me to post on a day that I wasn’t able to, just about everyone only wanted a female tarantula 😤 and few people appreciated that I didn’t work on Thursdays as there is precious you can do with an active toddler marauding around. 

At the moment, it has only been just over a week since all my bugs left me and I still have plenty to do. It is bin day tomorrow so I will once again be filling up my neighbours bins with ‘stuff’ from my business (with their permission). I need to get the room sorted so that we can decorate and use it (I’m still trying to hold out that it will be my gym/chillout room). It will clearly have to be child friendly as there is no way I can ban my grandsons from Nanna’s special room. It is surprising how much time it takes to re-organise everything. I was going to shut down my Virginia Cheeseman Instagram account but as I looked through the photos yesterday, I just didn’t want to lose them. I certainly have a problem with “letting go”, my husband says I hoard everything, including people. He just doesn’t understand that I don’t want to lose touch with so many of my wonderful customers/friends. I had a meltdown a few days ago when I realised that the website has gone and although Super Simon saved a lot of my customer details, I don’t have any phone numbers! I’ve decided that I’m going to keep my Virginia Cheeseman Facebook going and write a blog post regularly (a loose term, possibly every month?). At this stage I don’t know how many people would be interested in reading it but we will see. I know I keep saying it but I have absolutely loved all the amazing messages of love and support that I have received since announcing my retirement. I have been moved to tears on many occasions but they are tears of joy. I have managed to save all the wonderful Trustpilot reviews, almost all are 5* and uplifting.

I have had so many followers on multiple platforms that I had one of my frequent brainstorms last week “perhaps I could be an OAP influencer”, however it was soon pointed out to me just how many followers you need! (and what hard work it is), oh well, another idea bites the dust. I really like writing so perhaps that’s what I will do with all this free time that I’m told I will have in retirement. There again who knows, certainly not me. I love wildlife and my garden, I expect I will do more reptile surveys next year, perhaps join a bat rescue, hedgehog rescue? I’m obsessed with my hedgehog, she went into hibernation about a week ago now.

Lastly it is Halloween this week, I love it! Rats, bats, spiders, snakes, all the things I adore. Have a great time everyone and make sure you dress up. I would love to see your costumes, don’t lose touch, my email address won’t change virginia@virginiacheeseman.co.uk but I may not advertise my phone number as readily as I have been plagued by spam calls for some time now 🐀🦇🕷🐍  🎃🖤👻🧡