My newest addiction

I am now hooked on cross stitch and also really interested in learning other types of embroidery.  For now I am just doing cross stitch but I did buy a kit that has some blackwork in it.  I really love the way that looks, especially in color.  I initially started in the last few months of 2015 when I made a few small Christmas kits.  I kept at it through November and then I quit for 2.5 years.  I started again this year in May and I seem to have been bitten by the bug.  I can't think of anything else now. 

Here is my first finished cross stitch that I completed this year.  It is now framed and hanging on my wall. 

I started a new blog for just my cross stitching so I won't keep posting about that here... unless I want to show off something I finished.  I love that frame I used for that cross stitch and I found it at a thrift store.  The mat came in the kit.  The mat looks darker there than it actually is.  It is a teal color.  I didn't want to use that mat since it has a crease in it on the right side but it looked good and my husband said I should use it.  For once, I listened to him.  

Buddy tried to help me a lot when I was working on that.  I worked at the kitchen table and he would jump up and snag something off the table and run off to play with it.  A few times he stole my pattern and took off and a few times he grabbed the actual piece.  When he took the cross stitch he would run somewhere away from me and stand there look at it like he wanted to know what was so interesting to me that I couldn't pay attention to him.  I had to wash it to get the dog slobber off.  

I will put a link to my blog somewhere on the sidebar of this blog.  I have to get up and move around now.  My left arm is causing me trouble.  

Feeling better

Currently reading: Ghosts of the Titanic by Charles Pellegrino

I woke up at 5:30 am this morning and I could breath. My nose is completely clear and I feel pretty good. I have the usual achiness that is always there but I'm used to that. I started a roast in the crockpot and now I am taking a small brake before I do some cleaning.

I was really dreading the really super cold snap they said was coming with -40 to -50 F temps. Anytime the temperature drops like that I can't get out of bed. It was supposed to happen yesterday but it never did. I got a new Special Weather Report that said instead of the cold we are getting more snow. It did snow yesterday but I'm not sure how much. I was either reading or sleeping the whole day. Today I need to get up and do some things around the house. I have been doing little things the past few days while I've been sick but I couldn't handle much. I did vacuum yesterday and then took my canister apart and washed it and the filters that are washable.  They get caked in dust and dirt and dog hair. I thought I was going to have to take the bottom apart again because it was making a weird noise but I found the problem pretty fast and didn't have to unscrew anything.

Buddy my beagle puppy is really happy that he can still go out and play in the snow. He really likes to dig and if he doesn't get to go out and dig in the snow he starts trying to dig in my house. He's been really sweet today. He comes up and sits by me because he wants me to scratch his back. He does this super cute face where he looked shyly down his nose. I will be able to play with him a lot today since I'm feeling better.

Meaning of blog name

Currently reading: Medals in the Attic (Annie's Attic Mysteries #2)

I just realized that not everyone will understand the meaning of my blog name so I thought I'd explain. I took medical terminology so I learned a lot about how to break down a word to learn what it means. I have Fibromyalgia and it has really changed the way I live so of course it is going to be mentioned a lot in my blog. If you break down the word Fibro/my/algia the "Fibro" means fibrous tissues like tendons (connective tissue). "My" or myo means muscles and "algia" means pain. So then Fibromyalgia is pain in muscles and connective tissues.

My blog name is a play on that. I enjoy crocheting and knitting and often use those hobbies to distract myself from my pain. Mainly I resort to crochet since I've been doing that since I was a kid and it is something I don't have to think about. It is a great therapy for me.  Thus you have Fiber (yarn) plus Algia (pain) = my life.

I do mention the things I make on this blog but I have another craft blog where I post more craft related posts. That blog is called Creative Aspirations. I know that some people don't like to read my crafty posts because they don't crochet or knit. I haven't posted there for a while because I've been more into reading lately.

This blog has the two tabs at the top to show what I'm currently reading and the books I've read for the year.

Okay, Buddy the beagle is trying to dig a hole in the kitchen floor so I better go let him outside for a while.  I hope everyone is warm!

The year is almost over

Maybe everyone will stop dying once the calendar changes to 2017. I know if I were famous I'd be to scared to sleep.

We had a good Christmas here although I didn't take ANY pictures. The boys are grown now so Christmas isn't so exciting. We were pretty laid back. We ended up celebrating on Christmas eve since my husband's brother and his wife were going to come over then. My sister in law ended up not showing but my brother in law did. I had my schedule turned up-side-down again since I had a few days where I was sleeping all day. I started cooking in the evening and stayed up all night. I made a couple of pies and a bunch of cookies and planned out when to start cooking the other stuff.  I figured I'd get stuff started and take a nap while someone else took over. Problem was no one did. When I finally laid down I was dog tired and then I couldn't sleep because I was worried I wouldn't hear the timer go off. I finally got a few hours of sleep and then got up and enjoyed the company and a movie. Buddy was a ball of energy and loved the attention he got.

You know, it is really hard to pick out gifts for my boys now that they are grown. They are 19 and 21 but have birthday's coming up soon..... which of course means I'll have to go through this again. My oldest is working now and if he needs something he just gets it. He is currently manning the gas station but it is part of a retail store so on his break he buys stuff he needs. My youngest doesn't have a job right now but he has money in his account still so that pretty much applies to him too. They are into computer stuff and I just don't know enough about that stuff. It was so much easier when they were little and I could buy something with flashing lights and buttons that make noise.

We had a small Christmas this year because my husband's job is kinda rocky right now so we didn't want to go too crazy and then him lose his job. I've always told my boys Christmas isn't about being greedy.  It is about the joy of giving not receiving. Even when they were little we would give them money to buy a small gift for the other people in the family. You don't have to spend a lot to find a meaningful gift. I mainly got them things they needed so they could spend their money on what they wanted.

Well, the doctors always tell me I have to make sure and get enough sleep because the Fibromyalgia flares up if I don't. I ended up sleeping most of Christmas day and the next day. I'm still trying to get my schedule turned around so I can be awake during the day. I was in a lot of pain but then I read that we are expecting a big storm here this week. They said we are going to be getting a lot of snow and wind and usually that causes power lines to go down. I'm pretty sure that is what is causing me to hurt. It started snowing during the night. I'll probably feel better once that is over and passed us.

Crazy beagle puppy moments

I thought I would share a few funny moments I've had with my beagle puppy Buddy recently. He's about 8 months old now. The first thing was actually not so funny at first but I find it interesting now. I've been sitting at the kitchen table working on a cross stitch. My eyes are not the best and the fabric I'm stitching on is black so I need a bright lamp to see with. That means I have to stay there at the table.  I have Buddy in his fence area close to the kitchen table so I can talk to him while I'm working. Well I started noticing that when I let him out he goes right to the table and takes something I had. The first time I looked over and saw he had something black and went to investigate and about fainted when I realized it was my cross stitch I'd spend days working on. He didn't hurt it though; he just wanted to check it out I think. I mean, if I had it it must be something really great right? The next time I actually saw him run up to the table, poke his head up there (he stands up like a weasel) and take my reading glasses. The next time he got my pattern for the cross stitch.  He just lifts it off and after it lands on the floor he stares at it like he's trying to figure out what it says. Another time when I was filing my nails I caught him watching me and later he ran and grabbed the nail file and was holding it in his paws like he was working on his nails. He always grabs something I was previously using or holding and wants to squirrel it away so he can investigate it without me taking it away. Also, whenever I feed my fish he stands up like a weasel and watches the biggest one for a while.  He can stand up like that for a lot longer than I would have thought. It always looks so funny to see him do that and I'm hoping to get a picture of him doing it sometime.

This weekend we got about 3 inches of snow here.  Buddy is new to snow and is still getting used to it.  The first time it snowed he was scared to go outside because he didn't understand what that stuff was. We had to go outside with him before he would go out to go potty. It wasn't a lot of snow so after a while he would grab his ball and run a lap around the yard and come back inside. Before there was snow he would run a lot of laps around the yard until he was dizzy. Now it is cold so he runs one lap, comes inside to warm his feet and then goes for another lap. Well today he grabbed his ball and ran outside and when he dropped it expecting it to bounce it just disappeared. He kept staring at that spot like he was waiting for it to pop back out but it didn't so he looked at me for help.  I just used my foot to move the snow to show the red ball and he started pawing at it.  He played with it a little while before he dropped it again and once again it disappeared lol  It was so funny. Maybe you had to be there. There are so so many times I wish I could get a picture but before I can get the camera he moves.  

He sure does make me smile.