Voenix Rising

I'll admit I'm an abject failure at keeping a clean house. I wasn't always this way. I remember sending pictures of a new apartment I'd moved into in the early 2000s to a friend and he replied, "You moved into a model home?"

But lately…if I just ignore it, it will all go away, right?

I also never understood why everything in my dad's place would be absolutely covered with dust. "I start cleaning and just run out of energy," he'd say. I'm now at the age that he was when I started noticing his once-pristine environment becoming increasingly unkempt—and now I understand why.

It also doesn't help to have that extensive collection of tchotchkes that make dusting an absolute nightmare…

It's gotten to the point where Ben and I have discussed having someone come in once a  week toi give the place a quick once-over (dusting, vacuuming, mopping the floors), or at the least once-a-month deep clean (all the above plus doing the bathroom).