Emily is Smiling

Immediately after waking up, Dad and Luke went to go golf, and Mom and Amy and I left for the spa.  I've never been to a spa before, so I didn't know what to expect.  The moment I arrived in the spa area, I was offered a glass of fruit water and ushered into an area where I could change into a robe and slippers.  There was a hot tub, steam room, and sauna available while I waited (clothing optional, so I skipped out), along with a peaceful room with fluffy couches and tables of fruit and cold water.

I was escorted into the pedicure room.  Of course I've had pedicures before, but this one was much more extravagant.  I won't go into all of the boring details, but this pedicure was filled with soap scrubs and massages and all sorts of lovely things. 

The nice lady who did it all told me about her youngest daughter, Desiree.  She adopted the four-year-old girl six years ago.  Desiree was malnourished and had a receding hairline from lack of nutrition.  She'd been neglected by her mother and left to cook her own meals with the few ingredients left in her house... at age four!  Her mother had burned her, left her alone for days, and treated her horribly.  Now, at age ten, Desiree was like a new girl, filled with laughter and joy.  The story warmed my heart and again reminded me of what my parents told me.  Even though I was spending money on myself, it is helping this family, and in the long run, it's helping Desiree.

After our morning at the spa, we went and lied out by the pool until Luke and Dad got back from golfing.  The Tamaya Resort is about half an hour away from Albuquerque, which is a relatively big city.  We went into town to have dinner at the Boston Market and go to a game center just to hang out as a family.  We raced Go-Karts.  I passed my sister- yes!- and was ABOUT to pass my dad when the race ended.  After the exciting race, we all went to play Lazer Tag.

I must say, I am the worst person to play Lazer Tag.  I'm a very big advocate of peace, and I'm not a fan of guns, at all, so I have trouble bringing myself to hold even a lazer gun.  And I always feel guilty about shooting people.  Despite all of that, I love to play Lazer Tag.  I love being in a dark room lit only by a black light, ducking behind all the obstacles with spy music playing in the background.  It's so much fun.  But I was creamed.  I shot two people and was shot about eighty times, so I ended up getting zero points.  Oh well.  It was still fun.

I will write more tomorrow.