Losing the war

that villain dirt is at it again. With his lieutenants; clutter, dog hair, and cobwebs who command the foot-soldiers, those pesky and indomitable dust bunnies. Does anyone else feel like they are fighting a huge war and losing every battle. Yeah, there are a few victorious skirmishes here and there but they are short lived and seemingly futile. I spent hours on Saturday, assisted by my DH, cleaning up the house. I went so far as to pull all the cushions off the couch and vacuum them. We swept, vacuumed, dusted and within in 2 hours after this massive effort took place the house was a disaster again. How is that possible?
Our household consists of two adults, a dog, and a part-time visitor in the form of a snaggle-toothed slobber hound. Yes, some of the disgusting stains on the floor can be attributed to that last slobbery being, but really it shouldn't be this hard to keep the house in decent shape. Yet, all signs point to the contrary. I sweep practically everyday sometimes more than once and still we have great rolling dust bunnies. It's ridiculous. I sweep and then an hour later I see this huge ball of dust and fur rolling down the hallway like tumbleweed across the desert. What gives? Is there anyone else out there who enters their house and just looks around in despair at the endless clutter?
Even when we owned barely two pieces of furniture our apartment was cluttered. If there is a table it is inevitably covered in papers, used Kleenex (disgusting, I know), electrical cords, boxes, books, and general crap. How is it ever to be tamed? Does anyone know a foolproof way of shaming your papers and junk into compliance?
I love when my brother-in-law says, "why bother? it's just going to get dirty again." What a great philosophy. And it's even better because he expresses this point of view to my mother. Who gags in indignation at the thought. I wouldn't be surprised if her head started spinning around every time he said something like that in her presence. The best part is that by comparison even my minimal efforts at cleanliness take on a glow of victory in the eyes of my mother. To my brother-in-law all I have to say is, "Keep up the good work."
With that I'm going to have to excuse myself there are some nasty cobwebs in the bathroom trying to overrun my defenses and engulf the shower, mirror and sink.

Once more into the fray!