Christmas in Las Vegas, Part Two

For years I put on Epic Christmases, with trees so big they took up half the living room and so many presents they were piled halfway up the ceiling, with carefully choreographed music and decorations inside and outside. I would spent days on a ladder, circling little white lights around every single branch of my giant weeping cherry tree. I would drive up the hill of my development and peer into my living room windows from the road to see if everything was placed properly for maximum effect. You know what? I had entirely too much time on my hands. Now my life is so full of meaning and drama, it's a miracle if the top of a felled tree on my land makes it inside the barn apt. to be tied to a beam. I like it much better this way. I walked right into Christmas where there is no chance of snow, but it is cold and the desert wind whistles past the window where I can look out on the magnificent Turquoise Mountain range. I snuggle under the covers with Luke, who is 6 and thinks his Omi coming for Christmas is just wonderful, and beautiful Hannah puts her arms around me and gives me big hugs because she likes me here to share the most important holiday of the year with them.