Who knew a fundraiser with a couple decades of experience would be recruited to live in and work in Australia? I have always been a “leap and the net will appear” sort of person. While some thought I was crazy to contemplate let alone actually do it, this was not my first overseas rodeo.

What’s worse that can happen? I come home…. Again.

In 1981, I went to college in Adelaide, South Australia. In the 2000’s, the Fundraising Institute of Australia (FIA) invited me to speak a couple times – it did not go well (another blog post) but they invited me back. In 2015, a recruiter and spiders on LinkedIn aligned and I got a call.

Long story short, after three months of telephone and Skype interviews, they flew me to Melbourne for in person interviews. Ten days later I flew home with a contract and the visa process began. Two months later, I packed up, flew to Melbourne with Keri Kae Gebo for 10 days of fun and I started living and working in Melbourne.

I highly recommend the opportunity to live outside of your home country. The perspective you gain is invaluable. Now, I realize, I moved from one first world, English speaking country to another. But the social, economic and political differences are vast.

Personally, I found, watching from afar as the US struggled and fought and died for those without a voice or against leadership with the wrong tone – was very difficult.

Then Australia began their own Make Australia Great Again campaign. Overnight they refused to renew visas (the same one I had) and immediately sent talented researchers out of the country – the same people they had previously invited to work (like me) and set up laboratories. Let alone their horrible treatment of “boat people” on islands in Papua New Guinea.

Around this time, I started thinking about my Australian visa renewal, current job and things happening at home. Many expats seek citizenship in other countries. While I am a US citizen by birth, personally it is careful choice to become a citizen elsewhere.

So I planned my return home. Many thanks to Michael White and Clay Buck who opened their arms and hearts to me as always, generously giving me a safe place to land in Las Vegas. And very much appreciated as the Polar Vortex raged in the Midwest and East Coast.

On September 26th I left Melbourne for Las Vegas, without a job and a plan to reenter life in my home country. It was so good to see Michael at the airport and I enjoyed “winter” in Las Vegas.

Two months later, I started a job I love at College of Southern Nevada as Executive Director of the Foundation. That was only possible because the Las Vegas professional, fundraising community connected to and with me. My life and career has always been about friends and networks. After three years abroad, the network continued to expand beyond the miles, across oceans and continents.

I am grateful for the experience and people I met and miss in Melbourne. I am grateful my fundraising network grew and welcomed me to Las Vegas. I am grateful to be home. And I know I can travel whenever I like and you can always come home…or not.

Leap and a net will appear……

Thanks to friends for suggesting The Minimalists among others. Everyone needs to find their own path, feel free to share yours. The source for this post is The Minimalists latest post Essentials, Nonessentials, and Junk | The Minimalists

Essentials. Few possessions should fall into this pile. These are the necessities we can’t live without: food, shelter, clothes. While the specifics change for each person, most of our needs are universal.

Nonessentials. In an ideal world, most of the things we own would fit in this pile. These are the objects we want in our lives because they add value. Strictly speaking, I don’t need a couch, a bookshelf, or a dining table in my living room, but these items enhance, amplify, or augment my experience of life.

Junk. Sadly, most of our things belong in this pile. These are the artifacts we like—or, more accurately, think we like—but they don’t serve a purpose or bring us joy. The average American home contains more than 300,000 items, and most of it is junk. While this junk often masquerades as indispensable, it actually gets in the way of a more meaningful life.Of course, the personal effects in these piles are different for everyone. The widgets that add value to my life might be junk to you, and vice versa. The key, then, is to continue to question the things we bring into our lives, and to question the things we hold onto, because the stuff that adds value today might be tomorrow’s junk.

Let me recap since January 20:

• Open season on people and animals:
  • DACA out
  • DAPL in
  • Black lives don’t seem to matter
  • Animal hunting, nature reserves opened
  • Refugees and immigrants not welcome
• Sexual harassment is ok
• There is no global warming – just bad karma and Mother Nature is pissed
  • Harvey, Irma and Jose three massive hurricanes in 10 days
  • Earthquake on Mexico’s west coast and hurricane and tsunami on the east coast
  • Flooding in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Nepal impacted 40,000,000 people
  • Mudslide in Sierra Leone
• Close elections in UK, France, Norway – the world is tilting dangerously to the far right
• Equifax hack of 140,000,000 Americans
• Brexit
• Nuclear capabilities in the hands of North Korea

So my friend Maria wanted to learn to make macarons – like me she had tried on and off. Honestly, it takes one good macaron class, the right recipe and learn one teach one and off you go to success. What’s your macaron making tip?

Like many French recipes, the macaron is few ingredients and lots of technique. Hints to my success in no particular order (my macarons are by no means perfected – but still appreciated my all who partake):

• Use a French recipe – my first one was not from a French person. The god of macarons in

  

  France is Pierre Hermé and his recipes are readily available on the internet. This is a great post from Dessert First using not only the recipe but hints from SF Cooking School.

• Always, but always, “age” your eggs. I separate my eggs from my yolks a week before and then let them stand at room temp two days prior to baking. This breaks the albumen and allows for a better meringue when you need it most.
• Mise en place is essential – there are steps in macaron making that will not wait for measuring, cooking….see how macaron can be zen. The mise is part of the zen – the prep part.
• Hermé’s recipe is based on an Italian meringue that is egg whites whipped to soft peaks with simple syrup (sugar and water) boiled to 118F. This my friends is an entire post of it’s own and also readily available on the internet. Try making macarons with “uncooked” meringue and let me know how it works for you – cause I never got it to work.
• Use gel or powder coloring – that liquid food coloring from the grocery story added to egg whites does not work. And always use more color than you think you’ll need – remember you are going to add a massive amount of WHITE egg whites and it will dilute your color – dramatically.

• 

  Piping macaron shells does not require a template of circles but it does require practice and it’s fun. So practice away – unless you are working in the Hermé kitchen doing these 8 hours a day – expect a few rejects. And any true friend who won’t help you try a new filling on a reject is not a true friend who should be grateful you are making macarons and sharing with them at all.

• Oven temp makes a difference – like it does for any recipe – this more than others cause they’re macarons! And they’re made of egg whites and sugar and they cook quickly and burn easily. If you can smell them – they’re probably over cooked.
• Use a digital scale – Measure everything – this like many pastry recipes is not an eye ball it kind of thang.
• Let the lava flow – when you combine the meringue with the almond flour and sugar – when mixed properly and enough – it should have the consistency of a lava flow – not faster or slower. This will be the test as to how your shell piping will go. Too loose = soup. Too hard = won’t get through the piping bag. Stop mixing when you get to lava…..I do this by hand not in an electric mixer.
• Let the “skin” form – I have done it both ways – without letting the macaron shells “rest” before baking and with a rest. I find the classic macaron “foot” is guaranteed if everything else is followed. Yes there are people on the internet who say it doesn’t matter – I respectfully disagree.
• Macaron shells freeze! Yes make a bunch, freeze and fill as needed. Show up with a hostess gift that will wow them!
• Patience grasshopper – macaron making takes time and patience. It can be very zen if you don’t rush and don’t get frustrated.

This is a great weekend project. Or one day on the weekend. I make a bunch of shells freeze them and then make a couple batches of small fillings as I need for a friends party, dinner or make someone feel special.

What’s your macaron tip or learning?

As a reformed road warrior and now Australia based traveler, what I know for sure is…home is wherever you happen to be. Having recently returned from my first trip back to the US since leaving in January 2016 – home is wherever your heart and people are.

It was great to visit with friends and we all picked up where we left off. Facebook, texts and phone calls have a lot to do with how connected we still are. But the cities – Chicago and Washington DC are just that – cities. Sure I lived in those places, but it is the people who make the place.

And that is the reason I am glad to be home in Melbourne. Until I sat on my fifth airplane in 2 weeks on the ride back to Melbourne, I had not realized how much I was missing Melbourne and my people.

Like any traveler, I was glad to be back in my home, my own bed and accepted fully the hugs and greetings of my Melbourne people.

You know they say you can never go home again? Well that is true and false depending on how to define “home”.

My definition includes all the people who make any city a home. There was nothing to site see for me. I was in LA, drove up the Pacific Coast Highway to San Francisco and then flew to Washington DC and Chicago – both of which had been home for some time.

Besides the drive up the PCH and attending the Association of Fundraising Professionals annual conference (more on that in another post) – connecting with my US friends was the purpose of the trip. The best part was being able to see and hold them. We continued conversations and started new ones. At the same time I sort of felt like I hadn’t been gone long because we are connected on Facebook, by phone and text. The world is indeed smaller for all the social media and nothing a 20+ hour plane ride can’t fix.

I have more selfies with friends than I have taken in my lifetime. Those photos will provide memories for a long time. And for that I am grateful.

I am also grateful to be home in Melbourne.

Then there was another conversation which I have not personally experienced, but been told by others and read on social media. The gist is,

“If you’re concerned about the US why are you living here?” 

Wherever that “here” may be and the tone is judgemental or caring depending…….

Expats are living overseas for many reasons – none of anyone’s business. The reason I am writing this post is to share – no matter where you live – if you are an American citizen – you have a voice and opinion you can share. Social media and online tools make it easier than ever. 

There are actions US citizens overseas are taking to support immigrants, tell Congress what we think, forming groups of people (expats and not) to create a collective voice, signing petitions, posting on social media and more. 

In my case, I have formed a group of people interested in voter registration and get out the vote. It is the place I come from in my political experience and believe it makes a difference even more so overseas. After a couple weeks of FB postings, comments and way too long Messenger threads – on Saturday expats and dual citizens gathered in my home and via Skype from Melbourne, Sydney and Los Angeles to discuss our options. We all agreed every election between now and 2018 is vital – local, state and federal elections. And we read about how US voters overseas can make the difference in any national election. And in 2018 the census and redistricting will begin. We will go where the potential voters are – first voter registration drive – Super Bowl party at Crown Casino Melbourne!

In 2014 there were 5.7M US citizens living overseas – 2.7M were 18+ and eligible to vote. In the 2016 elections 600,000 US citizens abroad voted. 

The last 2-4 weeks before the November election was a challenge with expats trying to register or vote before it was too late – not all succeeded as there are different requirements in every state or county to voting or registering to vote from overseas.

We agreed this is a problem and all had personal or social media stories of absentee ballots not received, websites not working, voting age children unable to register. There is also the same apathy in the overseas folks as at home – “It’s too hard. I always forget to ask for an absentee ballot. Oh, I can vote when I’m living overseas?”

This dedicated group of people agreed to act and do. While we’re many thousands of miles away from our native homes, we know we can make a difference and have chosen to do so.  We’re in it for the long haul. Watch this space and FaceBook as our work starts and begins to build.

So by now you have probably heard of this Ron Howard/Brian Grazer movie? If it comes to a movie theatre near you GO! Rolling Stone as expected covers it best.

I just watched the movie and have an even greater appreciation for the Beatles than before. First let me say I was 3-8 years old when they were at their peak. But after watching the movie, I walked away understanding how they worked as musicians, people and a collective.

This movie is most amazing because Ron Howard has remastered hundreds of hours of film footage and photographs someone was smart enough to record and save. We get to see and hear the Beatles perform – not just talk about it. And there are narratives from Malcolm Gladwell, Whoopi Goldberg, roadies, reporters who covered the tour and the remaining Beatles. It is wonderful seeing John Lennon perform.

Yes we all know, Liverpool kids who done good. But throughout their rise, they kept their values and roots in tact. Any decision required a unanimous vote. They cared about each other and the people around them. In Birmingham Alabama in the 60’s they refused to play to a segregated audience. When they stopped touring, shortly after the Shea Stadium concert to 56,000 people – the first concert in a stadium ever – it was because the concert mayhem overshadowed the music. They couldn’t hear each other let alone the music and knew the audience couldn’t either. This concert was broadcast through the Shea Stadium speaker system – Vox had create a 100 watt speaker for the concert – nothing bigger existed. It was a shambles of a production and they escaped in a Loomis armoured truck careening around in the back. That was it, they’d had enough.

The Beatles were a tight band of brothers. You can see it early in their performances in small Liverpool venues. Watching the movie you can see, they all moved together, shoulders, feet, heads. So in tune with the music and fully present. They’re smiling, cheeky, irreverent enjoying the moment.This continued until around ’67, when the touring became really hard – 25 cities in North America in 30 days. Within increasingly crazy crowds from the moment they landed to concerts and hotels. They made no money from records – so the touring was, after a while a necessary evil.

But they loved their time in the studio. Creating and recording a new single every two months and new album every six! Can you imagine – well you don’t have to because their repertoire of music lives on. For the most part John and Paul wrote all the lyrics and music – anytime anywhere. They were connected through the loss of their Mother’s early in their lives and love of music. George learned from them and also contributed. But, according to Paul, their work in the studio had schedule and focused their work giving us the body of music we enjoy today.

In case you didn’t know, cause I didn’t, these stats exist in 2016 from a band that has not produced a song or album since 1969!

• 20 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 #1 singles since 1958 (#2 Mariah Carey has 18)
• Highest certified music artist in the United States – 178M units (#2 Garth Brooks has 138M)
• Best selling band in history 269M certified units – 600M-1B worldwide in claimed units  (#2 Elvis Presley 210M CU)
• John and Paul wrote more than 180 songs together

In my search I found The Positivity Blog and Henrik Edberg.  Thought I’d share this post:

Go Easy on Yourself: 4 Tips to do What Matters in a Self-Kind Way

And on Sunday, Henrik sent this email:

This Sunday I’d like to quickly look back into my past and share a mistake I have made so many times. A habit that held me back in life and I know so many in the world have been negatively affected by this year.

It is a sneaky one that sounds like a good idea but usually just leads to nothing much.

It is to be waiting for just the right time.

I know this one all too well. Maybe you do too.

When you have a dream then it is so easy to get lost in planning how you will accomplish it. To drift away in daydreams about how it will be. But also to get stuck in fears about failing with it.

So you make a common choice and wait – and wait and wait for maybe years – for just the right time to take action and get started with making that dream into something real.

Now, to be realistic, not every dream may be something you can get started with right now. But there are many that you can get going with.

The key here is to make things easy on yourself. You don’t have to dive in with a big and extremely courageous jump. If that was the case then only the bravest people in the world would do and achieve what they want.

Instead, take a small step forward. Take one small action. That is it.

Then tomorrow you can take another small step forward.

The important thing is that you get started and get going instead of spending so much time on just waiting and feeling more and more frustrated and unhappy about the state of your dreams.

Focus on that. And step by step start making this autumn into what you deep down want it to be.

Have a wonderful Sunday and week ahead!

from Henrik and me……