Author: Gina @ Oaxacaborn

Gina Munsey is a Mexico-born, Eastern Europe-raised missionary kid who ended up being a Californian by way of Florida outside of Nashville, Tennessee. She lives her days full of coffee and adventures while her 12-year-old learns Mandarin Chinese and Greek, her 3-year-old uses all the markers, and her artist-husband creates worlds from pixels and light. A blogger since the turn of the century (ouch!) she's an editor, co-op teacher, and writer who has only completed four chapters of her languishing manuscript. You can find Gina right here at oaxacaborn.com, or in the middle of [home]school surrounded by stacks and stacks of books.
Inspiration

INSPIRATION :: How to keep reading Oaxacaborn after Google Reader dies July 1

Gina @ Oaxacaborn

It’s true, Google Reader is disappearing on July 1.

Are you still reading this blog in Google Reader? Eep! I’d hate for you to be suddenly disconnected from Oaxacaborn when Google Reader is no more. (Each of you is so important to me! It’s sounds cheesy, but it’s true.)

Fortunately, you don’t have to start over from scratch. You can easily move all the content you currently have in Google Reader — all the blogs and RSS feeds you already follow — into Feedly! Feedly offers a one-click Google Reader import.

Alright Google Reader users, I’ll give you a moment to switch over to Feedly now….What to use instead of Google Reader

…well, that was quick and painless, wasn’t it?

Oh, wait. Maybe the above didn’t apply to you.

Oh dear. Was it all really THAT boring?

Changing to Feedly once Google Reader dies isn't THAT boring

Life in Photos, Poetry & Words, Theology

Spelling out hope in all kinds of ways

Gina @ Oaxacaborn

June 2013 - Aveline waking up near window
June 2013 - Aveline looking out window

We wake up slowly this morning, the hum of the air conditioner and the dehumidifier a constant reminder of the tropical climate. They are the new silent, the steady noise which blends into the background and becomes a part of these walls and this life.

Outside, the landscapers’ lawn mowers rattle across the sidewalks and through the landscaping mulch, sending a spray of pebbles and bark across the bottom third of the front door. I cringe a little, thinking of the helpless, newly-transplanted moss rose and marigolds in terracotta pots on the front stoop.  The new pinwheel, whirring happily to the blast of mower exhaust, doesn’t mind. It just spins and blends the colors into a sphere anyway.

Aveline wants to see it all, and settles in by the second-story window to watch. It’s a Monday-morning routine, at least when the rain stays away long enough for the landscapers to trim and edge and cut and sweep.

Maybe later, we’ll spread out a towel on the narrow strip of sidewalk in front of the door, and sit side-by-side in the sun to “make ABCs” on the concrete, until our fingers and knees are covered in dusty blue and pink and yellow.

She wants to “make ABCs” with her pens and crayons and chalk, this one, not houses or trees or little boys and girls. She flips book pages and pretends to read, and screeches “TWO A’s!” whenever she spots a word which has, indeed, two letter A’s. She can’t pronounce her own name, but she can make a letter “T” from pretzel sticks, and she turns her felt number 2 upside-down to “make Z”.

I don’t know where she gets these crazy ideas. I know how it feels to love letters, though.

I love letters. I love the words you can make from them. I love that 26 characters can be scrambled and pushed into thousands and thousands of different orders to spell out love, or fear, or hope, or happiness.

May she grow up to spell out lots and lots and lots of hope.

Life in Photos, Poetry & Words

LIFE IN PHOTOS :: Of Parrots and Pulgas

Gina @ Oaxacaborn

The sign should have been the first clue.

I mean, would have you continued into the parking lot once you saw a turtle like that? (The right side of the sign had an identical turtle, but in mirror image. Equally creepy.)
Creepy turtle on Flea and Farmers Market sign

It only took a couple of seconds to realize “900 booths” was a complete farce. Maybe they forgot the decimal point between the 9 and the first 0?

You can’t see it in the picture, but there’s a caption above the turtles that says, “A REAL Flea Market.” I am not sure what that even means, except perhaps this market houses fleas on a regular basis.

This morning, long before I saw the creepy turtle (wait, is that a flea?), back when I read about this place on the internet, I expected antiques and vegetables and woven bags. In my head, I had visions of my beloved California Denio’s. Instead, I saw washers and dryers, fish oil capsules and nail polish, chickens, and slightly illegal looking parrots. And no mariachi music.

The distinct lack of tubas and accordions made me sad.

Parrots at a weird flea market

Weird pet shop inside a flea market

Looking at chickens at weird pet shop inside a flea market

But there was a redeeming factor! Aveline finally got the windmill she’s been wanting. She calls it a wind-bum, though.

Choosing a wind-bum is serious business.

Buying windmills at a flea market

Oh, we bought a coconut too.
Buying a coconut at a farmers market

Despite the sign’s optimistic “¡FRÍO!“, it turned out to be a coco calor, not a coco frío.

Oh well.

At least we got a wind-bum!

Inspiration

INSPIRATION :: Facebook is Deciding What Updates You See From My Page (And How You Can Change Your Settings)

Gina @ Oaxacaborn

I’m going to make a wild assumption here. I’m going to jump to the conclusion that if you have liked the Oaxacaborn page on Facebook, you actually want to see the updates I post there.

Facebook did not make the same assumption, and as it stands now, they decide what you get to read from me. Hey, at least it’s not the NSA deciding, right?

Bad joke aside, here’s how you can change a simple Facebook setting to see all updates, and make sure you’re not missing out on any posts!

How to Change Your Facebook Settings so You See All Business Page Updates

Once you’re on the Oaxacaborn Facebook page —

  1. Click on LIKED
  2. Click on SETTINGS
  3. Click on ALL UPDATES.

That’s it!
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Poetry & Words, Theology

There are no rules in poetry except

Gina @ Oaxacaborn

 

Poetry has no rules, it has been said.
I say, rules exist. They lie
in how poetry should be read.

For instance, one cannot
read Octavio Paz
without first pausing
to sink into a faded velvet chair
of some bookstore
now out of mode and forgotten

And when
one reads the words of Billy
Collins it can only be
at a kitchen table
after dark
by the light of a single flame.

Shakespeare’s for the school halls, read
by one who thinks he knows
and Dickinson’s for the garden
with a single yellow rose.

Frenzied prose is for the birds,
scattered in the mist of ancient cobblestone
a panicked pandemonium set off
by the toss of a head
or sleight of hand.

But the poem, in all its outdated ink
remains unruffled
and to think

you nearly passed it by.

Little Style

LITTLE STYLE :: One-Piece Kids’ Pajamas (Not for Babies)

Gina @ Oaxacaborn

One-Piece Pajamas for 3T and above - Not for Babies - via Oaxacaborn.com

A while ago, I blogged about how hard it was to find labels (other than Hanna Andersson) which make one-piece non-footed pajamas above a size 2. They’re ubiquitious in baby sizes, but vanish for toddlers and bigger kids.

After that post, Pop Street Kidz pointed me in the direction of a few brands, and then I found a couple more as well. Here are a few of my favorites!

1. Gray Label Summer Suit – Available in three colors through size 5/6
2. KicKee Pants Bamboo Coveralls – Available in various prints through size 6yr
3. J.Crew Union Suit – Selling out quickly; only size 4 left
4. Gap Sleep Zip Romper – Available in various prints through size 5yr
5. Soft Gallery Serpentine Jumpsuit – I’m aware it’s not, strictly speaking, sleepwear. But remove the drawstring and it would be oh-so-cozy! Available through size 12yr.
Not pictured – Indikidual’s All-in-ones

Do you know of more options I’ve not mentioned here?