The adrenaline of a live performance is unlike anything in film or theater. I can see why it's so addictive.

It's really hard to find things that are worth leaving them for. [Balancing work and motherhood is] really hard. One night in Nashville, my son was screaming with a terrible stomachache. I was like, 'I have to get out of here!' but we had to finish. My friend Jenno, a mother of three who was producing, was great, reminding me that nine times out of 10, they just have gas.

I just look for interesting supporting-biggish supporting parts, and try to do one a year, and that's my limit. Some women can do it and that's fantastic, but I can't. You make choices as a wife and mother, don't you? You can't have it all. I don't care what it looks like.

I never knew I could suffer so much. And then, at the same time, you think, now I'm ready to open myself up to life in another way, to make it worth something and make it about the right things and not waste time.

When you're so out there in the public eye, people are constantly criticizing every aspect about you.

If I have my daughter in the car and they are making me nervous, I'll do whatever I have to do. I keep a whole log. I take pictures of their cars, write down license plate numbers, everything. If they do it again, I can go to the police. I know my rights and, believe me, I will have them arrested. I will stop at nothing.

THE REASON I CAN BE 38 AND HAVE TWO KIDS AND WEAR A BIKINI IS BECAUSE I WORK MY ASS OFF. IT'S NOT AN ACCIDENT. IT'S NOT LUCK, IT'S NOT FAIRY DUST, IT'S NOT GOOD GENES. IT'S KILLING MYSELF FOR AN HOUR AND A HALF FIVE DAYS A WEEK, BUT WHAT I GET OUT OF IT IS RELATIVE TO WHAT I PUT INTO IT.