The Jammie Jaunt

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By Patti Parish-Kaminski, Publisher

Suddenly, unexpectedly on Christmas Eve, it happened.  Mr. Kaminski had a revelation.

“Let’s go to Walmart,” he declared.

“Baby, it’s nearly 5 pm.  I doubt Walmart is open,” I replied gently.

“Oh, they are.  They are open until 6 pm.  Let’s go!” he said excitedly.

For the love of the Lord, I had no idea why he wanted to do last minute Christmas Eve shopping at all, much less at Walmart.  Our halls were decked, our fridge was full, our gifts were procured and wrapped.  We were beyond ready.

I was all snug in my Christmas jammies and not so inclined to change my ensemble for a Christmas Eve jaunt right before the doors closed at a major retailer.  The excursion held little interest for me, and I certainly was not about to dress for Mr. Kaminski’s impromptu adventure.

“I’ll go,” I protested, “But I refuse to get dressed.”

So off we went to town with a mere hour of a shopping spree left.  I was convinced that we would be the only ones in the giant retailer for this last-minute effort, to which I still had no idea the reason for the impromptu outing.  Boy, was I wrong.

The store was packed.  There were lines eight people deep at every register.  It was mayhem.

“Why are we here?” was the question I kept posing.

Turns out Walmart was having a sale on one of those audio technical devices that Mr. Kaminski loves.  To this day, I have no idea what this actual thing-a-ma-jig does, but it made Mr. Kaminski very happy.  I’ll call that a win.

We procured the extremely large utterly necessary electronic appliance for Mr. Kaminski’s happiness and headed to the register.  Not to be left out, I passed the “Mama Claus” slippers – on sale! – and tossed them into the basket.

It was madness at the registers as so many folks had literally waited until Christmas Eve to do not only their Christmas shopping but their grocery shopping as well.  After all, you can get everything you need at Walmart.  I was stunned.  I also made lots of new friends as my Christmas jammies were a huge hit.  I got so many compliments on my ensemble.  One lady even asked me where I had purchased them.  She wanted to join “Team Jammie.”

As horrified as I was to take off in my Rudolph ensemble, turns out I was popular – really popular – at Walmart.

I think for the new year, I’ll be embarking on more jammie clad excursions.  I’m sure Mr. Kaminski will be thrilled with that resolution.

See y’all next week – on the porch!  And Happy New Year to all of our porch sitters.  I hope 2025 is the best year ever!

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Patti Parish-Kaminski

Follow Patti Parish-Kaminski on Facebook at www.facebook.com/OnThePorchWithPatti/ and on Instagram at instagram.com/ontheporchwithpatti/.

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