Ceejay's AMA

[ceejay]

Hi friends!

I was signed up to do an AMA last Monday but I totally forgot, so I rescheduled myself for today!

Ask me anything about my life as a foster parent, scientist, runner, and all-around cool person.  

[wannabmama]

How long have you been a foster parent? (I think that's so cool!)

I hate running...any advice on how not to hate it so much?

Vacation: beach or mountains?

[butlerfan]

Favorite movie?

Favorite food?

Favorite book?

[teachermomtobe]

What kind of scientist are you?

[butlerfan]

Completely selfish question here....

How bad is our homestudy/licensing meeting on Friday going to be?

I mean I think we will be fine but....

how long, what do they all look at, etc

Tell me what they did at yours?

[rooskie]

What kind of science things do you do?

How did you meet your H?

[butlerfan]

If you could live anywhere where would you live?

[ceejay]

Oct 10, 2016 10:24:30 GMT -5 wannabmama said:

How long have you been a foster parent? (I think that's so cool!)

I hate running...any advice on how not to hate it so much?

Vacation: beach or mountains?

I've been a licensed foster parent since August 2015, and we've had our first placement (2 little boys - ages 3 and 1 now) since September 2015. (thanks!)

About running - I'm not sure what exactly you hate about it, but if it's due to being physically uncomfortable, getting good running shoes and good gear (a supportive running bra is second most important to me after shoes) can make a big difference. Getting fitted for running shoes and finding some that will support your feet and your gait is so important. Also, if you want to run but feel like you're burning out or pushing yourself too hard, go ahead and walk for a bit. For a few years when I started running, I would always alternate between walking and running. I gradually let the running segments build up until I didn't need walk breaks anymore. But I would have never stuck with it if I just forced myself to run the whole time, because that would have been miserable and no fun for me. Also, I almost always run with someone - either my dog or my H or my dad or some of my coworkers. For me, it's a lot more fun and makes the time go by more quickly when I have a running partner.

Vacation: beach for sure!!!

[butlerfan]

What is the longest race you have run?

[ceejay]

Oct 10, 2016 10:30:13 GMT -5 butlerfan said:

Favorite movie?

Favorite food?

Favorite book?

Favorite movie: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind


Favorite food: French fries


Favorite book: I don't really have a favorite! My favorite genre though is futuristic dystopian novels like 1984, Brave New World, etc.

[ceejay]

Oct 10, 2016 10:35:56 GMT -5 teachermomtobe said:

What kind of scientist are you?

I guess I would say that I'm a molecular biologist. My undergrad degree is in biochemistry, and my graduate degree is in biology. I currently work for a large diagnostic/biotech company, and I develop antibodies and antigens that are used in diagnostic assays.

[ceejay]

Oct 10, 2016 10:36:44 GMT -5 butlerfan said:

Completely selfish question here....

How bad is our homestudy/licensing meeting on Friday going to be?

I mean I think we will be fine but....

how long, what do they all look at, etc

Tell me what they did at yours?

Our homestudy was actually fairly easy. It took a while (2 visits of 2-2.5 hours each) but it was basically a lengthy interview with questions about our pasts, our relationship, our views on parenting, etc. Some of the questions were actually kind of fun to answer, like how me and H met and stuff about our childhoods. 

We spent a lot of time cleaning our entire house and making sure everything that was asked for in the paperwork was ready to go (fire extinguisher, CO2 alarm, emergency tornado kit in the basement, fire escape ladder, etc.). But... she didn't ask to see any of those things. I guess she just took our word for it that we had prepared everything we were supposed to. I would make sure you have all of those things ready, because your licensing worker may ask to see those, but ours didn't! Our entire "homestudy" was completed at our kitchen table. The only time our licensing worker looked through our whole house was at her very first visit when we started the licensing process.

If you have any more questions about it, feel free to ask! I hope everything goes well for you guys on Friday!

[ceejay]

I'm going running now for my lunch break but I'll be back in an hour or so to answer more questions!

[butlerfan]

Oct 10, 2016 10:56:13 GMT -5 ceejay said:

Oct 10, 2016 10:36:44 GMT -5 butlerfan said:

Completely selfish question here....

How bad is our homestudy/licensing meeting on Friday going to be?

I mean I think we will be fine but....

how long, what do they all look at, etc

Tell me what they did at yours?

Our homestudy was actually fairly easy. It took a while (2 visits of 2-2.5 hours each) but it was basically a lengthy interview with questions about our pasts, our relationship, our views on parenting, etc. Some of the questions were actually kind of fun to answer, like how me and H met and stuff about our childhoods. 

We spent a lot of time cleaning our entire house and making sure everything that was asked for in the paperwork was ready to go (fire extinguisher, CO2 alarm, emergency tornado kit in the basement, fire escape ladder, etc.). But... she didn't ask to see any of those things. I guess she just took our word for it that we had prepared everything we were supposed to. I would make sure you have all of those things ready, because your licensing worker may ask to see those, but ours didn't! Our entire "homestudy" was completed at our kitchen table. The only time our licensing worker looked through our whole house was at her very first visit when we started the licensing process.

If you have any more questions about it, feel free to ask! I hope everything goes well for you guys on Friday!

Yeah, we've done the interview questions over a few visits and she did a walk through the first day (didn't need everything done then).  I think Friday is just another walk through the house to make sure we have it child proofed and have the fire emergency stuff up, fire extinguishers, have a play area for the kids, etc.  And then review our stuff she had to type up describing everything we talked about and the house. 

I'm sure it won't be a white glove test but I will be very happy when Friday morning is over with.  Too bad I have to work afterwards.  There will be drinking that night to celebrate! (assuming we pass but they wouldn't be talking the way they are if weren't going to).

Thank you for bearing with all my anxiety and questions...lol

Have fun running!

 

[teraiin]

Oct 10, 2016 10:50:50 GMT -5 ceejay said:

Oct 10, 2016 10:35:56 GMT -5 teachermomtobe said:

What kind of scientist are you?

I guess I would say that I'm a molecular biologist. My undergrad degree is in biochemistry, and my graduate degree is in biology. I currently work for a large diagnostic/biotech company, and I develop antibodies and antigens that are used in diagnostic assays.

I understood almost none of this 😂

[marshian]

How did you meet your SO? Sorry, totally missed this was already asked!

Do you have any siblings?

[ceejay]

Oct 10, 2016 10:36:51 GMT -5 rooskie said:

What kind of science things do you do?

How did you meet your H?

I'm mostly a molecular biologist and make antibodies and antigens for diagnostic assays. Besides molecular biology, I do a lot of cell culture, cell line development, and DNA sequencing.

H and I met in college. We were involved with the same campus ministry and also had one class together. We were both painfully shy, and it took us forever to get to know each other... we actually talked for months on AOL instant messenger before we started talking regularly in person.

[ceejay]

Oct 10, 2016 10:38:10 GMT -5 butlerfan said:

If you could live anywhere where would you live?

Family means a lot to me, so honestly I would live in the area that I am in now because we're geographically close to everyone in my family. I do wish we could be closer to H's family too...

Assuming I could just move my entire family with me, I would probably want to move somewhere that had milder winters. I like having seasons so I wouldn't want to move somewhere tropical, but I would be happy to avoid the long, cold, snowy midwest winters...

[ceejay]

Oct 10, 2016 10:39:27 GMT -5 @samrs22 said:

Hi! Big purse ? Little purse? No purse?

I think my purse would count as a medium purse?  I am usually very frugal (read: cheap) and buy most things on clearance or second hand. My one splurge of my adult life is my Kate Spade purse. I'm kind of obsessed with it.

[ceejay]

Oct 10, 2016 10:46:33 GMT -5 butlerfan said:

What is the longest race you have run?

A marathon! I did my first (and probably only) marathon in 2014. The actual race was amazing but the months of training beforehand really kicked my butt and took up A LOT of time. I would love to run a marathon again someday but I don't know if will ever have the time or the energy to commit to training again.

[ceejay]

Oct 10, 2016 11:04:03 GMT -5 butlerfan said:

Oct 10, 2016 10:56:13 GMT -5 ceejay said:

Our homestudy was actually fairly easy. It took a while (2 visits of 2-2.5 hours each) but it was basically a lengthy interview with questions about our pasts, our relationship, our views on parenting, etc. Some of the questions were actually kind of fun to answer, like how me and H met and stuff about our childhoods. 

We spent a lot of time cleaning our entire house and making sure everything that was asked for in the paperwork was ready to go (fire extinguisher, CO2 alarm, emergency tornado kit in the basement, fire escape ladder, etc.). But... she didn't ask to see any of those things. I guess she just took our word for it that we had prepared everything we were supposed to. I would make sure you have all of those things ready, because your licensing worker may ask to see those, but ours didn't! Our entire "homestudy" was completed at our kitchen table. The only time our licensing worker looked through our whole house was at her very first visit when we started the licensing process.

If you have any more questions about it, feel free to ask! I hope everything goes well for you guys on Friday!

Yeah, we've done the interview questions over a few visits and she did a walk through the first day (didn't need everything done then).  I think Friday is just another walk through the house to make sure we have it child proofed and have the fire emergency stuff up, fire extinguishers, have a play area for the kids, etc.  And then review our stuff she had to type up describing everything we talked about and the house. 

I'm sure it won't be a white glove test but I will be very happy when Friday morning is over with.  Too bad I have to work afterwards.  There will be drinking that night to celebrate! (assuming we pass but they wouldn't be talking the way they are if weren't going to).

Thank you for bearing with all my anxiety and questions...lol

Have fun running!

It's amazing to me how different every state is and even every agency - I remember talking to another couple at our PRIDE training classes about their homestudy and even their experiences were so different than ours. 

If you've already done most of the interview questions, I would imagine the Friday meeting is mostly a formality to wrap everything up and have you guys sign off on final papers and reports. Let me know how it goes! I'm sooooo excited for you guys to be licensed!!!! Is everything still on track for the two little ones to be placed with you in the next couple weeks?

[ceejay]

Oct 10, 2016 12:14:50 GMT -5 marshian said:

How did you meet your SO? Sorry, totally missed this was already asked!

Do you have any siblings?

Yes! I have two sisters. I'm the oldest.

[marshian]

Oct 10, 2016 12:55:25 GMT -5 ceejay said:

Oct 10, 2016 12:14:50 GMT -5 marshian said:

How did you meet your SO? Sorry, totally missed this was already asked!

Do you have any siblings?

Yes! I have two sisters. I'm the oldest.

Me too! What are your age gaps? It's 2.5 years between me and the middle, then almost 2 years between the middle and youngest.

Do you all get along? How about when you were kids?

[ceejay]

Oct 10, 2016 13:00:57 GMT -5 marshian said:

Oct 10, 2016 12:55:25 GMT -5 ceejay said:

Yes! I have two sisters. I'm the oldest.

Me too! What are your age gaps? It's 2.5 years between me and the middle, then almost 2 years between the middle and youngest.

Do you all get along? How about when you were kids?

I'm three years older than the middle sister, and 9.5 years older than my youngest sister. My middle sister and I have always been more like second/third moms to our youngest sister because of the big age gap.

We do all get along but I'm much closer with my middle sister and consider her to be my best friend.

We got along pretty well as kids, and my middle sister and I were always very proud of our baby sister. She was adopted from China, and we loved telling other people about the adoption and our parents' trip to China.

[butlerfan]

ceejay, I hear you about Midwest winters....can I just have snow the week of Christmas and then be done with it?

Yes, they are hoping to place them in our care sometime next week (the week of the 17th)! So potentially a week from today we could have them.

[saltandvinegar]

How often do you get out and run now? Any races on the horizon?


Favorite holiday tradition?


What is your favorite & least favorite trait of DH?

[saltandvinegar]

Also, where in the Midwest are you? I am in Ohio and I know someone else here is from Ohio also.

[ceejay]

Oct 10, 2016 13:59:25 GMT -5 saltandvinegar said:

How often do you get out and run now? Any races on the horizon?


Favorite holiday tradition?


What is your favorite & least favorite trait of DH?

I typically run 3 times per week. I used to run after work with my dog, but after getting our foster sons last year, I found myself to be too exhausted and busy to run in the evenings. I started running this spring with some of my coworkers during our lunch break 3x a week, and I love it! It's a little annoying to have to shower and get back to work in the middle of the day, but it's fun to run with these guys and I probably wouldn't run at all otherwise.  I'm tentatively planning to do a 5k in a few weeks but I haven't signed up yet!

Favorite holiday tradition: Since we were little, my sisters and I have always taken a Christmas morning picture in our pajamas at the top of the stairs of our parents' house, before we were allowed to come downstairs and see our presents. We still insist on taking this exact picture every Christmas morning, even though the three of us barely fit onto the same step anymore!  We do our traditional sister pic, and then do another "stair picture" with the other additions to our families... husbands, dogs, and last year our foster sons. It's silly but it's one of my favorite traditions and someday we'll put together all of the stair pictures from over the years into an album.

Hmm.... favorite trait is his patience. Both with me and with our foster sons. Least favorite trait is his obsession with computer games. I have nothing against computer games and wouldn't mind at all if he played them casually, but he tends to be obsessive and will neglect interacting with me and helping out around the house when he's really into a game.

[ceejay]

Oct 10, 2016 14:01:43 GMT -5 saltandvinegar said:

Also, where in the Midwest are you? I am in Ohio and I know someone else here is from Ohio also.

I'm in the Chicago suburbs.

[marshian]

Oct 10, 2016 13:15:08 GMT -5 ceejay said:

Oct 10, 2016 13:00:57 GMT -5 marshian said:

Me too! What are your age gaps? It's 2.5 years between me and the middle, then almost 2 years between the middle and youngest.

Do you all get along? How about when you were kids?

I'm three years older than the middle sister, and 9.5 years older than my youngest sister. My middle sister and I have always been more like second/third moms to our youngest sister because of the big age gap.

We do all get along but I'm much closer with my middle sister and consider her to be my best friend.

We got along pretty well as kids, and my middle sister and I were always very proud of our baby sister. She was adopted from China, and we loved telling other people about the adoption and our parents' trip to China.

That is such a great story about your youngest sister!