House Cleaning

I really am trying to get better at keeping the house clean.
We decided we needed to start cracking down on Nathan putting his toys away before bed. But that somehow coincided with being gone alot/spending a lot of time outside, and he usually only has like three toys out in the living room. So we haven't been as hard on that one as we thought we'd be. But just having a clean living room helps me feel better. Unfortunately, there's usually a basket of laundry waiting to be folded in there that makes it look cluttered up.
My whole problem is that I let it get so bad (usually with a legitimate excuse - being gone, being sick, etc) that I don't have the energy to take an hour or two to clean ONE ROOM. I have found that if I stay on top of things - picking up the kitchen after every meal (not even necessarily washing dishes, but just stacking them by the sink and wiping off the table and counters), or throwing away the junk mail and "stuff" that comes in the house as soon as it comes in, it's really easy to keep the house clean. I just get distracted. And out of breath. And have to pee a lot.
Another bad thing about my tendency toward messiness is that our "landing zone" - where we drop everything as soon as we walk in the door - is the dining room table. So if the table is buried, we don't eat at the table. And I know that the habit of family dining (not in front of the television) is like the #1 thing you should do if you want to have successful kids. So that's a major guilt factor there.
Another "problem area" is our bedroom. It's just off the living room, so it's the place that everything gets shoved if we're having company - extra pillows and blankets, the big toys, laundry needing folded, etc. - and a lot of it doesn't come back out as soon as company leaves. It just sits there until we need it. Unfortunately, it's also the only room in our house with closets. So a lot of stuff that needs stored gets stacked in the room at the foot of the bed until I can re-arrange one of the closets to make it fit. Then add to that, we just moved the bassinet in there. So there's pretty much just a pathway through the room right now. It's on my to-do list, but since it's not glaringly obvious (I don't sit in the bedroom to relax, I don't walk through it on the way to the bathroom, and company never sees it), it keeps getting put on the bottom of the list.
And not that I'm blaming him, but another problem is my husband. He's a stacker. (Why put it away now when I can lay it here and do it later?) He's just like me in that aspect. And he's not a neat freak (except about his truck). If he cared about what the house looked like, I'd be more motivated to do something about it. I love that he doesn't nag me about it, and always encourages me when I apologize for how the house looks. ("You've been busy.") And he does notice and appreciate when I do clean it, and usually compliments me about it. So I guess that should make him the perfect husband. And I really do appreciate that about him. But sometimes I wish he'd nag me just a little so I'd feel guilty enough to do something about it. Or throw me a hint, like he does with the laundry. ("I'm almost out of underwear.")
Anyhow. I don't know why I'm even talking about it. Maybe because they say that admitting you have a problem is the first step toward recovery. Or maybe because I'm avoiding actually cleaning. :)