We had a whirlwind of a holiday season. Between Sean’s family and my family, and a surprise visit from some of our very best friends, plenty of wine and cheese and mashed potatoes, and, oh yeah, celebrating our engagement, we both ended our vacations feeling a little run down. I was definitely ready for some serious fresh-start, new-project, cleanse-and-cure January action.

I love January. I love resolutions, and goal setting, and starting over again with a fresh page. This year, due to the aforementioned whirlwindiness, I got kind of a late start, but I did some reflection. I thought about all the exciting things that are coming up this year, the things I accomplished last year, and the things I want to learn and do this year. I starting making plans for refreshing our apartment, refreshing our diets, refreshing my friendships, and all that other wonderful New Year stuff. I was going to spend this weekend sewing, and cleaning our apartment, taking down Christmas ornaments and stocking our pantry and refrigerator with a crap ton of vegetables and fruits and whole grains.

Then I got totally sick. I knew this was coming. I had been telling Sean for the previous week that I could feel it, hovering. I knew my immune system was not in optimal condition, thanks to all that wine, and cheese, and those mashed potatoes. Saturday afternoon, I did manage to finish sewing a cute polka dotted blouse (pictures soon!), before I succumbed, and found myself on the couch sneezing and coughing, where I have been ever since.

My instinct is to feel frustrated that my January Goals are being pushed even further back. I am ready to start cleansing and curing! I’m ready for projects! I want to clean! But my body wants other things entirely.

The thing that I realized, though, is that I don’t need to rely on some arbitrary day on the calendar, or schedule set by someone else, to get my fresh start on. My goals can be achievable on my own timeline, one that will allow me some rest and recuperation first.

That fresh start will still be waiting for me, once I’m done coughing and sneezing, and I can breathe through both nostrils at the same time. In the meantime, I’ll be in bed, watching Vampire Diaries and catching up on some of the reading I didn’t get to do on vacation.