^ I agree that of course she deserves to rest and relax. lol You can tel how burned out and tired she was in her radio interviews lately. I honestly think she answered vaguely about the album because she was so tired she didn't even want to think of working on it yet. lol I don't blame her one bit, and I am glad she is taking a little time off this year to regroup and re-energize. The next album is critical, and needs to be the best she has ever done. I am also one of those people that want Carrie to tour LESS cities next time, but do bigger venues in bigger cities, so that she won't get so burned out.... Also, it would give her more time to see Mike, and more time to make really special events like the Hall of Fame concerts, Loretta Lynn tributes, etc, and other fun projects that she always misses out on when she tours so much. Maybe if she tours less dinky cities in the USA where she doesn't even make much money anyway, she can finally find time to tour overseas and see her international fans.
However, this is a business, unfortunately, so she needs to stay on pace with her competition, and keep her momentum and buzz going strong the way it is now. I think she needs to release a new album in late 2011 to stay on pace with Miranda and Taylor, and also take advantage of the biggest sales months, CMA effect, AMA performance, etc. Spring releases don't do as well unless you are freakin' Lady Gaga or even SWSRN right now....lol Taking some time off is good....but taking a whole year off without a new album would cause her to lose momentum at a critical stage of her career, since she is still on top and hasn't peaked yet. Once she peaks, she can do whatever she wants, release albums every 3 years if she wants, etc, and tour sporadically so she can raise kids and have a life. But right now, she is still at her prime of her career, with tons of opportunities ahead of her that she hasn't tapped yet (possibly in acting, collaborating with other artists, touring overseas, etc). Sadly, in this business, out of sight, is out of mind, especially when she has fierce competition in Miranda and Taylor.