Tucson, part 3 (award and party)

Continuing on from part 2 (go...read it and part 1, if you haven't already)...

After getting back from our excursions, we had most of the afternoon to ourselves and then at 7pm we had the dinner and award ceremony. Each and every employee got up to get their pic taken with the Exec. V.P's and get their plaque. Dinner was delicious. Saturday morning we had another wonderful breakfast buffet and then Gene had meetings while I went back to the room for a mid-morning nap. In the afternoon we hung out by the pool, ate at a wonderful Mexican restaurant (free, thanks to company lunch vouchers) and just walked around the grounds.

That evening at dinner was the entertainment show (a movie compilation of all the excursions and meetings, etc. set to music) and a comedy act from former SNL star Kevin Nealon. During the morning meetings, Gene was lucky enough to sit on a chair that had VIP backstage passes (perfect example of how lucky he is--I've never known anyone more lucky), so after the show we got to meet Kevin Nealon and get our pic with him. And I'm making myself post it as proof, even though I had gained probably 100 pounds by that point. After a late night listening to a live band, mingling and getting to bed pretty late we had to wake up nice and early to catch our plane.

It was such a nice, relaxing trip. I thought I'd feel all guilty about leaving my kids and missing Sarah's birthday (which we celebrated early), but it rejuvenated me and made me appreciate my kids all that much more! I'm so proud of Gene for his accomplishments to have earned this honor.

Gene getting his award with the Executive Vice Presidents (the one in blue sat at our table).

Gene and a co-worker, Elaine, (she's been to 14 of the retreats) posing with the President of Qwest.

Gene enjoying his buffalo burger alfresco (I had chicken enchiladas) Yummo!

A view of the hotel, pool and grounds that we enjoyed Saturday afternoon. It was heaven just soaking in the sun listening to my iPod!

I love these Prickly Pear Cactus yellow flowers.

Gene and I at one of the restaurants on the hotel grounds. We ate amazing barbecued brisket & pork ends, but the service was so slow (good thing for the waiter the company covered gratuity). And, ummm...never mind the cleavage.

Gene at the Kaenon display in the lobby getting our free sunglasses.

Saturday night's dinner was amazing. The salad was amazing. The bread was amazing. Every bit of it was decadent and delicious, and we ate to the tune of Michael Buble which was the icing on the cake for me!

Dessert was equally amazing. Every thing was stepped up a notch--the chocolate cake had a truffle hidden inside, for example.

While we were eating dessert Kevin Nealon was introduced and entertained us for a good hour. His material was really funny & clean. Mostly jokes about getting older, stuff like how flicking on & off the porch light sends a strong message to the partiers across the street, hehe.

Back stage meeting Kevin Nealon. There was even MORE food and drinks, as if we hadn't had enough. This is such a bad picture of me and Gene, we were over-stuffed, tired & sweaty. Gene has an additional photo with Kevin with them both doing the 'Hanz & Franz' pose from SNL.

As I mentioned earlier, each night when we came back to our room there would be a gift waiting for us. The first night we got a new Nikon Coolpix S4000 camera, the second night we each got the Kaenon sunglasses and the third night we got the DVD of Kevin Nealon & his autograph. Pretty dang sweeeet, if you ask me!

When we arrived back home the girls were all over us, and it was so lovely (even though a part of me just wanted to sleep for days). We brought them back some souvenirs and, thanks to Alyssa, they had a great time. And thus concludes a tour of the most pampered and spoiled vacation we will probably ever experience in our lives! Thanks to Gene for his hard work!