I’ve been thinking about it — for five days now, at least — and I’m feeling pretty confident that I’ve come up with a good resolution for 2009:

I hereby resolve to entertain more this year.

Yes, that is too a serious resolution.

No, I don’t think it’s ridiculous at all…

Here’s why:

Rudi and I have lived here for … six years now. We have a solid group of friends now. We have groups we belong to. It’s nice to spend time with these people, and, yes, while I can always suggest to Sarah that it would be fun to go have grilled cheese and tomato soup one night or to Amani that we should meet for a cup of cocoa, it would be even nicer (and certainly more affordable) if I could just toss out the odd, “Hey, why don’t you stop by tonight/Saturday/the next time you’re in Dupont Circle?”

But we can’t.

Because Rudi and I live a suburban lifestyle in an urban apartment: we’ve accumulated too much stuff. So first we need to pare down some.

Then we need to reliably keep the place tidy. We are terrible about that, particularly because there isn’t a place for everything, so the incentive is low… (See above.)

And then we can have folks over — to watch Sense and Sensibility and drink tea out of all my new tea pots and tea cups… to play board games… to knit… to just hang out.

So, I reiterate: I’d like to entertain more this year. I’m thinking twelve times doesn’t seem unreasonable over the course of the year…

Do you have any goals/resolutions for the new year?