End o' week musings

It's been a hard week, but it's getting better. I have been really down about Ronnie James Dio's passing and I finally coming to terms with feeling OK because he's not in pain any more.

Saturday through Tuesday I spent house/cat sitting for my friends Carin and Tom. Other than waking up with a cat on my head, it was fairly uneventful. The cats seemed happy to have me there too, as we cuddled and I fed them chicken from my salad and we watched some bad TV. Almost a vacation except I had to go to work ...

Sunday I managed to sneak over to the Renaissance Faire for a few hours. I caught the joust and the big battle, did some shopping and visited with friends at the Tower of London booth. My friend Jerry has been hard at work on an album and we had a long talk about music and how it evolves from what you hear in your head to what comes out in the final recording.

Late that night I heard the news about Dio. Not too long after, my phone and e-mail were flooded with people reaching out to me. He was a special part of my life and I will never forget Ronnie's kindness and love. Thank you to everyone for your sweet words and thoughts, your concern helped ease some of the bitterness of this loss.

Tuesday I interviewed Juni Fisher, a living legend in western music. She was wonderful- smart, charming and funny! She weaves real stories into her songs and they are definitely worth checking out. Juni will be at the Autry in June.

Today I am gearing up for a special weekend and I doubt I'll be blogging Monday, so don't fret if you don't see any updates. I'll share my adventures with you in my next End o' week musings....

In rotation this week: Red, Tribe After Tribe, Orange Sky, The Randies, Offspring and Ken Walton. I know it seems weird, but although I long to hear his voice, I just can't listen to Dio right now...

Photos we got 'em: Fun animal photos from the Internet.

Thought o' the Week: Say it now. I've long had this thing about telling people how I feel about them. My mom finds it strange that I tell my friends I love them when I'm finishing a phone call or saying good bye after hanging out, but if I don't say it, how will they know?

In the '90s I had to have surgery. My doctor thought I might have cancer and had already prepared me for the worst. Luckily everything was pretty much OK, but I came away with a lesson. The event forced me to take stock of my life and vow to be a better person and to make sure everyone around me knows how special they are to me.

I'm not shy about spreading around the thank yous. I enjoy giving out a ton of hugs. I flourish by telling someone how important they are to me. Maybe my style is overwhelming for you, but life is fleeting and you never know what is around the corner. Do you want to be remembered as smart or would you rather be remembered as nice? Do the people you love know it? There's no time like now.

Keep on rockin'

Mickie