Happy Birthday in Colorado

Greetings Readers

Unlike last year when I typed “Happy Birthday” to my father I was able to enjoy the day with my father as well as my mother and brother this year.

We, as a family, decided to go to Claim Jumpers for my father’s birthday dinner. Ok. Ok, my father chose the restaurant, but it was his special day, therefore he gets to chose where he wants to eat.

That’s the way our family operates (MO). If it is your birthday you get to choose the place to eat. Though if there is a very good reason not to eat there then those opinion(s) will be taken into consideration.

We arrived at the time that we wanted and saw it was not that busy, but a bit busy.

After being seated my father and I decided against ordering ribs since I barbequed ribs the day before. However, my brother ordered a full rack and that was okay by all of us. My mother was unsure and thought about ordering a salad entrée, but then it was my brother or perhaps myself suggest that she order the seafood grill shrimp – or was that scallops. Needless to say she did and ate the entire thing. My father and I ordered a top sirloin steak – 12 oz. I would have ordered a larger steak that was $ 29.99, but I was unable to contribute to the dinner that much since I was on a budget. Meaning, I would not be here to make the payment for living where I am at since I would be on vacation. Also, I did not have a chance to save up since this whole vacation came together at the last moment, so to speak. So with mother paying for most of the meal I had to order an entrée reasonably. Common courtesy in our family.

One might say that I should have order the $ 29.99 steak, since I have brought gifts throughout the year when I visit, but in my mind that does not count. I would feel guilty for ordering a meal that expensive and not able to contribute half. Even though my brother was able to pay my half.

I do not know what the norm is for a family birthday spending is, but in our family we spend anywhere from $ 100.00 to $ 200.00 on a birthday dinner for a party of four. That is normal for us and not unusual. We order new things at some times, but other times we order what we want and enjoy the dinner on our special day. After all, there are only four days of the year that we do this for us. As a family we love to eat out and when there is a special occasion we chose a nice place to eat.

Thinking back, my brother and I pick a “new” appetizer to try and then talk over with our parents to see if they are game to try. Well, at Claim Jumpers we tried the Shrimp Taquitos and we have to agree that they tasted very good. Crunchy outside, hot shrimp and a nice flavor. Too bad that we only got to try one a piece. We each chose the dinner that we wanted to eat. And at the end of our meal I asked our waiter if there is anything special for a birthday, which I pointed to my Dad.

“Yes, I can bring a desert.” He replied.

“Please, do not bring any singers, please.” I said

“Not a problem” the waiter responds.

Minutes later we got a mint flavored desert, which was actually very, very good. Four spoons were brought and we devoured the entire desert in no time.

And that was then end of a very nice dinner at Claim Jumpers, though our waiter had many tables to attention to, but we overlooked that issue. He did what he could and did not really ignore us, but left us alone.

Until the next time

Daryl Charley
The Fallen Athlete