I always thought I was well prepared to handle almost anything, but I found out that Murphy’s Law could show up at any given time. He is very popular at Christmas time. Remember the basic Murphy’s Law is: If it can go wrong, .it will!’
 
Several years ago I was such an organized person. I made list of things to do and when to do them. Actually I think I had a “List of List”. Needless to say, I managed to get things done on time. This particular year disaster struck. It was an incident Murphy would have been proud of.
 
I had a Christmas list which included my in-laws and aunts and uncles.  First of all let me describe the people involved.
 
My father in law, Herman was a middle-aged man who wore an extra large shirt. When he got a haircut, it was a very simple procedure. The hardest part was finding the three hairs to cut. Herman was a bald as he could be.
 
My Mother in law, Mom was a very short woman, 4 ft 5 to be exact. She was about as wide as she was tall; finding clothes for her was a real chore.
 
Charles my brother in law was always proud of how he looked. His best feature was his bright red hair and he used all the male hair products to make his hair look its best. But he broke out in a rash when he used any kind of Men’s Cologne.
 
Leonard, my uncle, was tall, slim, broad shouldered and basically an average guy.
 
Barbara, his wife, was a perfectionist. Everything she wore had to match. Her hair and makeup was perfect. Her clothes fit perfectly.
 
Now you have an image of what these people look like and something about them.

This particular year I did my Christmas shopping early. I bought all the couples matching shirts and travel bags with travel size personal care items. I thought this was the perfect present for them.
 
A few days before our families got together, I sat down in the floor and wrapped my gifts. I had as stack of men’s shirts and women’s blouses and his and hers travel kits. I wrapped them and tagged them as I finished each gift.
 
The day of the party, we all exchanged gifts. I insisted that everyone try on the shirts so if I need to exchange anything I could do it. That’s when  “Good Old Murphy” showed up!
 
First of all Herman came out of the bedroom in a shirt that was so small his arms were pulled back like the wings of a Thanksgiving turkey. The darts that suppose to be under the bust were some where under his arms. He had on a small women’s blouse.
 My mother in law had on a shirt that was too tight and what was even funnier, it hung down about knee level
 
Barbara had gotten the extra large shirt. It fit her like a tent.
 
I had adjusted the contents of the travel kits for the needs of each individual. Since Herman liked cologne and Charles didn’t, I switched them around.  Herman blushed when he open his travel kit. I think his elbows even turned red. I had place two bottle hair tonic in his kit, a bottle of tonic for each hair. Charles gave me a quizzical look when he found two bottles of cologne in his I think he thought I was trying to kill him.
 
Now I was blushing and I was so embarrassed. I had all the wrong presents for everyone.
 
Well we all started to laugh. All the right presents were” there”; they just ended up with the wrong people. For a while it was like a Chinese fire drill while everyone switched presents.
 
I am just glad everyone was there. It made it easier to get the right gifts to the right person.  I have to say it turned out to be one of the best family Christmas parties we ever had, and certainly one I will never forget.