Billi Pod Blogs: Labor Day Weekend Update from Billi Pod

Tuesday==>I hope that everyone had a stellar Labor Day Weekend because your favorite Sunshine State blogger certainly did here in Winter Park.

Yeah, for Billi Pod it was an AWESOME family orientated time with: my son Bill III aka The Bill; grandson, Alex Falletta, of Elgin, SC, his wife, Gina, and their two darling daughters, Saylor and Finley, my great-granddaughters.

We were joined by: Gina’s dad, Dave Tindell, and his wife, Jill; and, Alex’s dad, David Falletta, of Lakeland, and his wife, Crystal.

So ... in kinda summary form I will attempt to bring you loyal and faithful readers and followers up-to-date ...

Friday - As I previously posted, I had a great lunch with Sandy Mullon and her sister, Patrice McLaughlin, at The Cheesecake Factory in Winter Park Village. Sandy and Patrice were on their way up to Jacksonville to spend the weekend with Patrice’s daughter, Laura.

Alex and his clan arrived at Bill’s new house in Casselberry in the late afternoon. I think I told you that Bill’s new house has a large pool and is adjacent to a golf course.

After getting settled in, they picked me up and we had a great family dinner at the Outback Steakhouse on Aloma Avenue in Winter Park. As you know, this is one of my favorite restaurants.

The place was really crowded. The food was excellent and we stuffed ourselves. The girls were very well behaved.

On the way back to the apartment we stopped by the Krispy Kreme to pick up some chocolate glazed donuts.

It was a great way to end a great day.

Saturday - In the morning I Ubered up to Bill’s house. The plan for the day was to head over to the space coast area in Alex’s mammoth truck. Bill opted not to join us.

In the name of fair and unbiased reporting I have to share that the trip over wasn’t much fun because of heavy traffic caused by extensive roadwork.

When we got to the Titusville area we went to a waterside restaurant named, NEW YORK, NEW YORK “On the River.” Get the connection==>Billi Pod and New York, New York?

Alex had found this place online. There we met up with Dave and Jill Tindell who were in the area visiting friends.

In the photo it is, left to right ... Finley, Gina, Saylor, Alex, Jill, Me, and Dave.

We had a great meal. This photo pretty much sums up how we felt afterwards ...

When we split we headed over to the NASA Space Museum.

Man, what an AWESOME place.

Because we had the girls we opted not to take the bus over to the launching area for the extended tour there.

It was about 5:00pm when he headed back to the Orlando area. I am happy to report that the ride back was much better, with less traffic and construction.

For whatever reason I began to feel a bit lightheaded so I had Alex drop me off at the apartment rather than go with them back to Bill’s for pizza.

The wonderful day ended with The Gators kicking butt, beating Jacksonville High School by ... oh? ... sorry ... I meant to say ... beating New Mexico State ... by a score of 61-13.

Sunday - The morning got off to an unexpected beginning when I got a call from my soulmate Judge Rosemary Barkett, who is a member of an international tribunal located in The Hague. She called me from The Hague.

We did some much needed/wanted catching-up and I am happy to report that she is doing well and is still enjoying her new judicial adventure.

So ... Rosemary==>it was great hearing from you and thanks for the call.

Then, I called my sister Ann Parker, who lives in Palm Springs, CA, to wish her a Happy Birthday.

Ann is in the Denver, CO, area baby-sitting her granddaughter, Josie, while her daughter, Donna Parker, is in New York, with her boyfriend, Eric, for the wedding of Michael Rodriguez and Scott Wojcik.

I am really sorry I couldn't be with them for this extraordinary event.

Bill and Alex went golfing. When they finished Bill picked me up and we went back to his house.

David Falletta and his wife, Crystal, had picked up Saylor and Finley for some alone time and a shopping spree.

When they got back: David and Saylor played in the pool; Bill climbed up a tall ladder to clean leaves off of the screen over the pool; Crystal and Gina played with Finley; and, Billi Pod watched the final innings of the Yankees/Rays game, won by the Yankees 6-4.

Then Alex grilled some excellent burgers. Oh yes ... excellent.

When dinner was over, David dropped me off at the apartment on their way back to Lakeland.

It was yet another great family experience.

Monday - Labor Day. Alex and his clan left in the early morning and made it safely back to Elgin, thus ending our Labor Day Family Weekend ... so ...

Thank you Bill for being a great host and thank you Alex and Gina for coming down to the Sunshine State.

Billi Pod opted to give himself the day off ... spending most of the day and evening in front of his 42” flat screen TV watching ... tada ... sports.

The Yankees beat the Orioles 8-6 to draw into a virtual tie with the Blue Jays for first place in the AL East.

The #1 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes kicked butt, winning 42-24 over Virginia Tech.

Moving on ...

On the health scene ... not really good news.

Nope, on Friday I got a personal call from my oncologist, Raul Castilla, to inform me that the biopsy that was done on last Tuesday wasn’t done correctly. WTF?

I won’t bore you with the whys etc. etc. Dr. Castilla said he would call a surgeon to schedule a procedure to surgically remove one of the lymph nodes so it can be better evaluated. Thankfully, it is an out-patent procedure.

When he gets the results he will then prepare a treatment program for me, hopefully in time for our scheduled appointment on Wednesday, September 16th.

I will, of course, keep you loyal and faithful readers and followers up-to-date.

Moving on ...

Actually, it isn’t much moving on ... because today is going to be Billi Pod’s usual errands and chores day.

Then, for the evening he will stay in the cool and comfortable confines of his apartment to watch ...

7:05==>Yankees vs. Orioles, from Yankee Stadium, The House That Greed and Ego Built, in game 2 of the 3-game series.

On the mound the Yankees (77-59) will be Masahiro Tanaka (11-6) vs. Kevin Gausman (2-6) for the skidding Orioles (65-72).

Bad news from the Yankee Universe==>an elbow inflammation will shut down our titular ace Nathan Eovaldi (14-3) for at least two weeks. Bummer!!

OK ... time to close this out and then start to work on my to-do list ... but ... before I do ... thought you might enjoy the following regarding the fiasco in Kentucky ...