Dang, That Mouse Scared Santa Off!

This year's Christmas Eve was a bit...different. Usually Christmas Eve is a time of joy and happiness, which it was, but there was a bit of an edge. This year, instead of giggling, we were screaming, and instead of staying awake because of excitement we were awake because we were scared. We were visited by a mouse last night.
Early in the evening, my brother saw the mouse but my dad told him not to say anything, knowing that we womenfolk would be terrified. Later, my mom and sister-in law saw the mouse on the counter (!!!) when they went up into the kitchen. I would like to mention that I have very few fears worse than mice. I really think that I have a phobia because my fear of mice in my house is both irrational and acute. It's hard to describe the paralyzing fear that overtakes me when there is a mouse in the house, but I think that saying that I wore my snow boots for the rest of the night and threw things into rooms before entering them begins to paint a picture.
Heather and I still had wrapping to do, so we planned to barricade ourselves in her room, wrap presents, and sleep on her bed. I refused to sleep in my bed because my covers touch the ground and the mouse could very easily climb up onto my bed. We had just gotten into Heather's room when I looked down at the vent and saw the mouse come out of it!!! It was small, but still scared the heck out of me, so I screamed and run out of the room and down a flight of stairs. Heather had jumped onto her bed and was yelling for help. We tried to remedy the situation by taping the vent shut and tucking a towel into the bottom, but soon after that I heard Heather screaming again. The mouse has jumped, yes JUMPED, over the towel and into the corner. We decided to take everything out of Heather's room and sleep on the hide-a-bed down in the family room. We tried to make quick trips, but we couldn't find everything and ended up wrapping presents with packing and masking tape. Eventually, we were able to settle into a few hours of fitful sleep.

In the morning, we woke up at 8 (probably because we didn't sleep well) and went to wake up our parents. Since we slept in the family room, with the Christmas tree, "Santa" was unable to bring out our presents and we had to transport our own downstairs. The rest of the day was pretty good, though I was obliged to wear my snow boots for the duration. After Christmas breakfast, my dad went on a quest to buy a mouse trap to rid our family of this tiny furred menace. To our great dismay, no stores were open and he was unable to procure the necessary tools of attack. My mother, seeing my great stress and exhaustion, decided that we should go on our own quest. We searched several gas stations before I realized that we were approaching the neighborhood of Amanda, one of my best friends. I decided to ask her if she had a mouse trap, and she did! Apparently, the trap had been given to her family as a gift of sorts. Observe, our salvation:
We have placed the trap on the counter where the mouse was first sighted by my family members. I know that this sounds...exceedingly gross, but we REALLY want to catch this mouse. I really don't want to sleep on the hide-a-bed again tonight.