Christie Matthews

TAYLOR SWIFT revealed in her online chat yesterday (Tuesday) that her next album, Speak Now, will be released October 25. Here’s some facts about the album:
-She wrote all 14 tracks on the album.

-The first single, Mine, will be released in August. She recently filmed a video for the clip in Portland, Maine.

- She enjoyed her time in Maine so much that when her career is over she would love to retire there, make necklaces and have a lot of cats.

- Her summer has been spent working on the new album and finalizing her move into her own place in Nashville, which she has now completed.

- Starting on August 20, Speak Now will be available for special pre-sale on the site SpeakNow13.com.

Want to get “inside” Carrie Underwood’s dream wedding? Pick up this week’s People magazine! Word is, Garth Brooks and Faith Hill were there! I can’t wait to see the photos of her cupcake tower.

Alice Grayson was to bake a cake for the Baptist Church Ladies’ Group in Tuscaloosa But forgot to do it until the last minute. She remembered the morning of the bake sale; and, after rummaging through cabinets, Found an angel food cake mix & quickly made it while drying her hair, dressing, & helping her son pack for Scout camp. When Alice took the cake from the oven, the center had dropped flat And the cake was horribly disfigured.

She thought, ‘Oh dear, there is not time to bake another cake.’

This cake was important to Alice because she did so want to fit in at her new church and in her new community of friends. So, being inventive, she looked around the house for something to build up the center of the cake.Alice found it in the bathroom - a roll of toilet paper. She plunked it in and covered it with icing. Not only did the finished product look beautiful, It looked perfect..

Before she left the house to drop the cake by the church and head for work, Alice woke her daughter Amanda and gave her Some money and specific instructions to be at the bake sale the moment it opened at 9:30 and to buy the cake and bring it home. When Amanda arrived at the sale, she found the attractive, perfect cake had already been sold. She grabbed her cell phone and called her mom.

Alice was horrified - she was beside herself. Everyone would know! What would they think? She would be ostracized, talked about, and ridiculed! All night, Alice lay awake in bed Thinking about people pointing fingers at her and talking about her behind her back. The next day, Alice promised herself she would try not to think about the cake And would attend the fancy luncheon/bridal shower at the home of a fellow church member And try to have a good time. Alice did not want to attend because the hostess was a snob who more than once had looked down her nose at Alice because she Was a single parent and not from the founding families of Tuscaloosa but, having already RSVP’d, she couldn’t think of a Believable excuse to stay home.

The meal was elegant, the company was definitely upper crust old South and, to Alice ’s horror, The cake in question was presented for dessert! Alice felt the blood drain from her body when she saw the cake!She started out of her chair to tell the hostess all about it, but before she could get to her feet, The Mayor’s wife said, ‘What a beautiful cake!’ Alice still stunned, sat back in her chair when she heard the hostess (who was a prominent church member) say, ‘Thank you, I baked it myself.’
Alice smiled and thought to herself, ‘God is good.’

Dear God, Please keep your arm around my shoulder and your hand over my mouth!
Amen!

Whoah! A three year old with a Twitter account? Yep! Tori Spelling and Dean McDermott’s 3 year old son Liam has launched his own Twitter account. Liam, with the help of his famous mom, updates his 14,000-plus followers with his best one-liners. Mom Tori says the toddler got more than 10,000 followers in just six hours after launching the page earlier this week. Check it out, he’s pretty funny!  www.twitter.com

Attention Snakes: Come to my house and you will not survive! That’s it! I don’t care if you are a grass snake, chicken snake, rat snake… in my eyes you are a DEAD SNAKE! That’s all!

AMEN TO THAT!!

I had a great time spending the morning with Michael Daugherity. Michael won the opportunity to be a ” DJ For A Day” at the Jonesboro Radio Group after being the top fundraiser at Brookland Middle School. Michael sold 100 Sonic cards to help raise money for new playground equipment. Michael did a great job and I think could quite possibly be headed for a career on the radio! Great job Michael. Thanks also to Dr. Hernandez, Principal of Brookland Middle School for bringing Michael to the Jonesboro Radio Group studios today.

I wanted to share our joy in the newest addition to our family! Meet little Miss Bentleigh. She is a four month old Shih Tzu. You’ve heard me talk over the years about our little buddy Petie, also a Shih Tzu, who was a part of our family for over ten years. Last October, we had to make the painful decision to put him down due to heart problems. It was traumatic for us to say the least. I never thought I could bring another dog into our home, but the chain of events that led Bentleigh to us, I truly believe was a sign that she was meant to be with us. I can only imagine how much fun Petie would have had playing with Bentleigh. In a way, I think he’s still with us. Common sense tells me it’s the breed that has certain mannersisms that I compare with Petie and Bentleigh. Maybe it’s just a coping mechanism. Whatever it is, she is healing a hole that has been in my heart since Petie left. We are so happy to have her. Now if the housebreaking issue will not be too big of a challenge! It’s been a long time since we had a ” baby” in the house. Wish us luck!

I recently read an article called ” Secrets Of A Happy Couple” and I am happy to say that my husband Jeff and I practice most of what is on the list. Of course everyone has an “off” day now and then… lol! Thought you might enjoy reading it. I printed it off and posted it on our bathroom mirror to serve as a reminder.

10 HABITS OF HAPPY COUPLES

1. Go to bed at the same time
Happy couples resist the temptation to go to bed at different times. They go to bed at the same time, even if one partner wakes up later to do things while their partner sleeps.

2. Cultivate common interests
Don’t minimize the importance of activities you can do together that you both enjoy. If common interests are not present, develop them. At the same time, be sure to cultivate interests of your own as well.

3. Walk hand in hand or side by side
Rather than one partner lagging or dragging behind the other, happy couples walk comfortably hand in hand or side by side.

4. Make trust and forgiveness your default mode
If and when they have a disagreement or argument, and if they can’t resolve it, happy couples default to trusting and forgiving rather than distrusting and begrudging.

5. Focus more on what your partner does right than what he or she does wrong.
If you look for things your partner does wrong, you can always find something. If you look for what he or she does right, you can always find something, too. It all depends on what you want to look for. Happy couples accentuate the positive.

6. Hug each other as soon as you see each other after work
Our skin has a memory of “good touch” (loved), “bad touch” (abused) and “no touch” (neglected). Couples who say hello with a hug keep their skin bathed in the “good touch.”

7. Say “I love you” and “Have a good day” every morning
This is a great way to buy some patience and tolerance as each partner sets out each day to battle traffic jams, long lines and other annoyances.

8. Say “Good night” every night, regardless of how you feel
This tells your partner that, regardless of how upset you are with him or her, you still want to be in the relationship. It says that what you and your partner have is bigger than any single upsetting incident.

9. Do a “weather” check during the day
Call your partner at home or at work to see how his or her day is going. This is a great way to adjust expectations so that you’re more in sync when you connect after work.

10. Be proud to be seen with your partner
Happy couples are pleased to be seen together and are often in some kind of affectionate contact - hand on hand or hand on shoulder or knee or back of neck.