The Eyes Don't Have It: Fly on the Wall

2026-09-18T08:00:00.095-05:00

Welcome to our monthly Fly on the Wall, a blog post written in snippets. Marcia, Diane, and I invite you to catch a glimpse of what you’d see if you were a fly on the wall in our homes, at our writing desks, and in our worlds. Come on in, buzz around, see what we've been up to. Bet you laugh!

We were watching the Red Sox, who have a pitching issue. Again, this year.

They were ahead by 2 runs, but given the pitching later in the game, that's just not enough. But they broke the game open in the 4th inning, and were ahead by six runs.

Hubs: Well that's better, now we have enough runs to not have to worry about the pitching.

Me: Yeah, don't put all your chickens in a hatch.

Hubs? What?

Me: You know what I mean.

Hubs: I know what you mean, but do you know what you said?

Sorta.

OMG sometimes I really worry about . . . well . . . me.

I knew the Sox were playing at 5:40, so I planned dinner for 5:30.

I finish cooking and call Hubs up from the man cave.

Hubs: Why are we eating so early?

Me: The Sox are on at 5:40.

Hubs: Yeah, and . . .

Me: And what?
Hubs: It doesn't take us over an hour to eat, why are we eating at 4:30.

I looked at the clock on the microwave and yes, it's 4:30.

So, I went to the microwave (that has a clock) to set the timer for when I wanted to start dinner. I shut the microwave (that has a clock) timer off and started preheating the lower oven (that has a clock) and the upper oven (that has a clock). I set the timer on the microwave (that has a clock) for when I have to flip the food. I shut the microwave (that has a clock) timer off, took the food out of the lower oven (that has a clock), flipped the food, stuck it back in the oven (that has a clock), reset the microwave (that has a clock) timer for when the food would be done. When it was done, I shut the microwave (that has a clock) timer off, and took the food out of both ovens (that, has a clock).

That's quite a few chances I had to . . . you know . . . look at a clock.

And yes, my glasses were on.

Me: I think the Sox game is in a rain delay.

Hubs: Why do you think that?
Me: It's supposed to start in 2 minutes and they haven't switched to the game.

Hubs (squinting at the TV from the kitchen: They don't have the tarps out on the field.

Me: How do you know?
Hubs (pointing to the TV): I don't see it on the ground. Me: That's because you're looking at the studio.

And who needs his eyes checked now?

Sitting on the couch watching TV with Hubs:

Me: Oh, look at that, it's clear

Hubs (turns to look at me): What's clear?
Me: Everything.

Hubs: Everything? You're going to have to give me more information.

Me: I was squinting at the TV, but I just put my glasses on and now it's clear. Everything.

Hubs: Well, there you go!

So, maybe both of us?

Back when PurDude had first moved into his house and his furniture hadn't arrived yet, I moved a lot of furniture, rugs, lights, and accessories from our house to his. I set up both bathrooms and his guest bedroom for him, moved a lamp into his sunroom and a small table and stools into his kitchen. I also put some leftovers in his freezer, and put a few things like peanut butter in his pantry and bread, bagels and butter in his fridge. He'd be able to live there comfortably until the movers brought his furniture.

His first day living there, he had come to dinner and mentioned that he wasn't eating the bagels yet (Aldi Maple French Toast bagels, btw, delish!) because he didn't have a toaster oven. I gave him ours out of our pantry, as we now have an air fryer and don't need it.

As he was walking out the door:

Me (speaking softly to Hubs): Quick, can you think of any more stuff we want to get rid of?
PurDude (from the door): I hear you!

Oops.

A few weeks later we were at his house helping him out as the movers delivered his furniture.

PurDude (holding my toaster oven): Thanks mom, I don't need this any more.

Me (moving backwards away from him): Sorry, no givsies backsies!

Chocolate Raspberry Swirl Donuts

After PurDude had moved in, but before his furniture came, we had one last worker coming in. PurDude would be there to let him in, but not necessarily be there when he left.

The doors in his house have 2 locks, an original on the doorknob, and a deadlock PurDude put above it.

Since the deadbolt needs a key, I told the contractor to just have his worker lock the doorknob and pull the door shut when he leaves, this would lock the door. Well, that's what I thought I told him.

Me (via text): Just have him lick the doorknob and pull the door shut when he leaves.

Good thing the guy can't see just how red my face is.

I heard a noise, so I went to look out the window.

Me (texting to Hubs at work): There's a plane landing in the neighbor's back yard.

Hubs: That's it! Are you going to the eye doctor on your own, or do I need to drag you there?

Me: Really. There's a plane landing in the neighbor's back yard.

Not actually landing, it came all the way down almost to the lawn, hovered, and left. It looked like a blow-up balloon airplane.

It was an Amazon drone, and it dropped a package on the back lawn. First time I'd seen that.

I had some Mahi Mahi marinating in an Italian salad dressing mixture. I put it on the grill, and when I went back into the house, I realized that I'd dripped salad dressing all over the deck. I wiped it up with a wet paper towel which, of course, did nothing.

The next morning, Hubs brought the hose up onto the deck to spray it down.

Me: You know, the deck looks really good where the salad dressing is.

Hubs: It does, the oil brings out the color of the planks.

Me: So, another option to hosing this down is that we could just smear salad dressing over the rest of the deck.

Hubs: Then we could play slip and slide right to the hospital.

Me: But the deck would look great.

Hubs (pointing the hose at me: Go in the house!

I went. Just in case . . .

We had new neighbors move in next door last month. A younger couple, a baby, and an older couple. The older man is often outside with the baby. He is such a pleasant man, but we really couldn't communicate with him well, he not only speaks almost no English, but is close to deaf. No one else in the family has come anywhere near us.

I saw the young father outside with his lawn mower. His lawn was really long, and I figured he was taking care of it.

Maybe he's new to home ownership, I don't know. But I'm thinking he doesn't quite get how this mowing your lawn thing works.

You're supposed to do the whole thing, right? Or are my eyes deceiving me?

And one final nudge towards an eye exam:

When they are advertising a show called Bodies in the Water, and you read it as boobies in the water, it's time to . . . you know.

Now click on the links below and see what my friends have to share:

Menopausal Mother

On the Border

Chocolate Raspberry Swirl Donuts (baked)

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

1/2 stick butter, melted

2 cups flour

3/4 cup sugar

2 TBSP baking powder

1 tsp powdered french vanilla creamer

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup milk

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup chocolate chips

2 TBSP raspberry jam

1 tsp baking cocoa

1/3 cup sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

*Set the melted butter aside to cool a bit.

*Preheat oven to 350 degrees, grease the wells of a (12 well) donut pan.

*Whisk together the flour, 3/4 cup of sugar, baking powder, powdered creamer, salt, and milk.

*Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave at 20 second intervals until smooth. Add the raspberry jam, microwave another 15 seconds, stir, add the baking cocoa, and set aside.

*In a separate bowl, whisk the milk, egg, and vanilla together, then add to the flour mixture. Mix just until it forms a dough.

*Mix together the remaining sugar with the cinnamon. Spread onto a piece of parchment paper to form a rectangle about 12 inches long by 10 inches high.

*With floured hands, form the dough into about a 12 inch long in the center of the cinnamon sugar mixture on the parchment paper.

*Using a floured rolling pin, gently roll the dough to a 12 X 10 rectangle. Gently spread the chocolate raspberry mixture onto the dough, leaving about 1/4 inch margin at the top and bottom. Vertically, cut into 12 slices.

*Starting at the bottom, fold each in half. Gently twist the center, then each end. Press the ends together to seal and form a circle. Put each one into a donut well.

*Bake for 12 - 14 minutes until the center springs back to the touch. Allow to cool for 10 minutes in the pans.

*To remove, run a knife along the edges of each donut, gently pulling towards the center. Remove and allow to cool completely.

Baking in a Tornado

The Eyes Don't Have It: Fly on the Wall