Christmases Past

My Christmas spirit is disappearing. I don't know what's wrong with me. Well, I do know part of the problem, but that is another post, which probably won't be written. So, instead of wallowing in the muck and mire, and trying not to become a horrible grinch, I have been trying to think of something to "light my Christmas fire", and it has nothing to do with mistletoe, so get your minds out of the gutter!
While growing up, I had the greatest parents you could imagine. Christmas was always the best time! There was ALWAYS at least a foot of snow on the ground, Mother was always making homemade fudge, homemade caramels, tons of wonderful goodies, and of course baking that EVER DREADFUL fruitcake! Of course, there were still chores to be done where Dad took charge. I particularly remember one Christmas when me and my little brother, Cameron, thought that we were going to outsmart Santa. We had been looking forward and planning for a couple of days. The only heat that we had came from a propane stove and it sat right in the living room, underneath the stairs that led upstairs to our rooms. So, the plan was, that we were going to make camp, underneath the stairs, near the stove, so that we wouldn't freeze to death. Bedtime came and our parents agreed to let us do this, probably because they knew that we wouldn't last too long. So, there we are, blankets and pillows on the floor, (why we didn't opt for the couch I do not know), and ready and willing to lay there and wait for Santa to come popping down that chimney through the stove pipe, and magically out into our living room through the vents in the front of the stove where the heat came out. I don't know if this is what Cameron thought, but I sure did believe it. We left the Santa treat near the stove, so that if we did happen to fall asleep we would hear him and it would wake us up. I couldn't tell you what happened or why, but the next thing that I knew I was awake, the treat for Santa was gone, there were gifts everywhere, I was warm, but my body was oh so stiff and sore, I guess from sleeping all night on that hardwood floor. I don't know why my parents didn't carry us up to bed after we konked out, probably to teach us some kind of valuable lesson, like don't wait up for Santa!! I think that on Christmas Day that year we played endlessly in the snow! We did that a lot though. Well, off to work I go! Oh, almost forgot, the WORD OF THE DAY IS: SPURIOUS (rhymes with furious!)

spu·ri·ous /ˈspyʊəriəs/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[spyoor-ee-uhs] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–adjective
1.
not genuine, authentic, or true; not from the claimed, pretended, or proper source; counterfeit.