I really do like beginnings more than I like endings, unless the ending happens to involve a finished knitted project (but even those are kind of bittersweet if the project has been particularly enjoyable). Beginnings are full of possibility and adventure. I like adventure.

We tend to be very task-oriented here at Chez Schuster/Szabo: our evening debriefings usually consist of us asking each other how productive we were today. Some people might consider that mentally unhealthy but it seems to work for us. There are no penalties for non-productive days (which don't happen very often), but we do like to celebrate the extra-productive ones.

As far as long-range planning goes, the husband is better at it than I am. I submit that's because he has far fewer details to worry about and more time to look at the big picture. I'm usually juggling so many items—between my own schedule and the kids' schedules—that a week's worth of stuff is about all I can cram onto my radar screen at one time. So he's the one who says in June, "Let's get chickens before winter," and makes it happen by November. (I'm the one who says in June, "Ohmigosh, we have people coming to visit for graduation in three days!")

I'm taking some time now, though, to do some long-range planning. Some of that has been forced upon me by these college classes, which have long-range planning (or at least planning through the end of the semester) built into them. But I'd also like to maintain the illusion that I am mistress of my destiny and am not simply being tossed about by the winds of change. Let's see if this works.

Things I would like to accomplish in the first half of 2011 (did I mention we also like lists?):

• Get the new website under control: I am actually making progress on this one. The Pattern section is almost done—I've got almost all 100+ patterns listed for sale as digital downloads. As soon as those are finished, I will turn my attention to the Twists and Turns back issues. I won't be selling hard copy back issues from the new website (it's simply too confusing and cumbersome to sell both hard copies and digital downloads). I am also kicking around the idea of making the back issues available only as Volumes, which will cut the number of products down from 40 to 10. I still haven't come to a decision on that one. I just don't want the website to become unmanageable and unworkable (like it is now).

• Finish adding my patterns to Patternfish.

• Create a new, separate website for Hideaway House and adjust some of the rental policies. For instance, last season we allowed one-night rentals. We got quite a few of them, but it meant a lot of extra work for me in terms of bookkeeping and cleaning. This season we're going to require three-night minimum stays. I also need to set up a Facebook page for Hideaway House and get it listed on some other vacation rental websites.

• Finish the second semester of medical transcriptionist training: Goes without saying.

• Figure out some system that will keep me designing. The nice thing about the newsletter was the built-in deadlines. I really am motivated quite well by deadlines, and I am worried that without an artificial construct that requires me to produce patterns for sale at regular intervals that designing will get shoved down the to-do list. I've decided to subscribe to Vogue magazine (I already get Vogue Knitting). Montana is such a fashion backwater that I really feel like I need to figure out what's going to be trendy without waiting two years for it to show up in the stores (the resident fashionista is quite excited about this decision).

• Along those same lines, I need to make sure that I blog more regularly and post more regularly to the Big Sky Knitting Designs Facebook page. Even if it's only "Hey, I knit a cool swatch today!" I need to make that more of a priority.

• Schedule some teaching gigs.

• Get the new garden planted and the fruit orchard started.

• FINISH CABLES 2 ALREADY. It's half-done, I just need a chunk of time to get it finished.

• Online classes? I may have to give up sleeping.

• Knit some socks. Just because I want to (finally).

There are quite a few items that aren't on this list, mostly because they have to do with other areas of my life like church and the fire department. One bright spot (it's horrible to put it that way, but it's true) is that my term as chairman of a big committee at church comes to an end in February. I've done two terms (six years) and I can't succeed myself. It means that the monthly church council meeting I've attended regularly for the past 8 years is off my schedule as of February 1. However, I offered to stay on my committee for six months to help smooth the transition, so I'll still have to attend those weekly meetings until mid-summer.

Mostly I would like to devote as much time as I can to Big Sky Knitting Designs again. Hopefully the husband's business will continue to chug along, which will free up some of my time and energy to focus on my stuff again (see the Retropsective post from a few days ago).

What about all of you?