Nova Dawn-education to preserve the past, conservation to feed the future.

 The one downfall of being told you can not or will not succeed for a large portion of your life is you start to believe it. This is especially true when the majority of that input takes place during your developmental years.  Many long-term complications stem from the lack of training and education in neurodiversity, learning disabilities, and the mental health of school-age children. ADHD in girls and young women is often completely overlooked due to the fact that girls and young women exhibit different symptoms. With boys and young men, it has always been much easier to identify.   We are all very aware of the classic ADHD symptoms exhibited in boys, but it looks so very different in girls. When I was diagnosed and started learning about the struggles I had faced my whole life, I realized that almost all of my mental health, emotional and academic struggles could be explained with the diagnosis. I am not lazy! I do, however, struggle with executive dysfunction*. I...

 Sorry for the lul in updates over the past two weeks. There has been a lot to get sorted and plenty of school to keep up with, work, a multitude of lists, hours of research and all the joys of an ongoing job search. Things are starting to come together, the collective governments in Atlantic Canada have announced the reopening of the Atlantic bubble, making the move back to NS much easier. The two weeks of quarantine would be emotionally challenging, being so close but so far at the same time. All of this being said, it is Tuesday again, and we all know what that means! It's been a few weeks, and it's time for another GrataTuesday! This week has brought my world some heartbreaking news. Little Ray's Nova Scotia announced they are shutting their doors due to the impact that Covid-19 has had on them. The government has offered little to no aid for small businesses, and unlike so many other little guys, LRNS can't just hunker down and wait for this to blow over. There is ...

While it is time for another GrataTuesday post, I thought I would share some pretty big news with you instead... Big may be an understatement, huge doesn't seem to cover it either. This is colossal, gargantuan, life-altering, reticulated python-sized news!  The last 360 days have been some of the most difficult, uncertain, challenging, yet rewarding days of my life. Many of us have faced some challenges that we have never expected to face.  The last 360 days have seen me scared to death about the lockdown and the effect it would have on the events that we had scheduled for Nashwaak Valley Farm, worrying about what the future would hold for my fellow outreach educators all over the country; my friends and family, creating two amazing summer camp programs, missing my first blues fest in fifteen years, missing my first Ylue feast EVER, moving on to a very different job, starting my university degree, my baby sister getting engaged, dreaming about being able to get back to doing t...

  We're back again with another GrataTuesday, this one a tribute to Dear Ol Dad.  As always, GrataTuesday is brought to you in part by the GrataToad and the letters I, O and U! Lacey Bean, the alligator queen, drivin' around in her Pontiac reptile machine.  Loven' all the little critters green, Ortis the tortoise and Stubsy mean. Went to Truro with Corona and the Medicine Show seen.  Then to Aylesford mountain where the fox is queen,  Off to Merle with straw hat and jeans, homeless man in the yard,  Bean to the door in all her lard. Lacey Bean Love Dear Ol Dad  Feb. 2014 People are often shocked, some even appalled by the relationship I share with my family, but as today's mammal of honour always says,  Fuck em' if they don't like it! Growing up, my father was...difficult to live with, to say the least. That's not to say I didn't learn an unbelievable amount from him. He, like an ogre, smells like a swamp (at times) and has many layers.  For ...

  Welcome back, everyone! I hope you enjoy this week's GrataTuesday! Sorry about skipping out on last week's post. I had lots of school work and some SFTO (Self Forced Time Off*). As always, GrataTuesday is brought to you in part by the GrataToad and the letters I, O and U.  A teenager sits next to an old man on a bench... ... and the old man will not stop staring at him. The kid had a long, spiky mohawk that was different colours. His arms and neck were covered in tattoos, and multiple piercings in his nostrils and ears. Finally, the kid, sick of the old man staring at him says, "What's the matter old man? Ain't you never done anything crazy in your life?" Without missing a beat the old man replies, "When I was young I got drunk and had sex with a parrot once - I was wondering if you were my son." Change is hard, especially when it is forced on you and there is nothing you can do about it. At the same time, it is amazing to be able to look back and...

Welcome back! Hopefully I will have some more blog content for you in the upcoming weeks but until then its that time again!   Time for our 3rd GradaTuesday post, and as always it is brought to you in part by The GradaToad and the letters I,O and U, enjoy! -Love Bean "I don't think that is the last we'll see of her"  -LMB  Most people are known for their famous last words, but very few have their famous first words remembered throughout the ages.  Late one spring afternoon, a young woman finished her shift at a busy downtown clinic and packed up a new adoptee to drop off to their forever home.  You see, animal adoption is a lot of work, even more so when you are dealing with exotics. Although no stranger to hard work and long hours, this young lady didn't realize just how much work her future held. Not just hard work but sleepless nights, a broken back, nine straight months of vomiting, many Tom concerts, loving people so much you could squeeze them (until ...