the rain is splashing off all the surfaces i can see and i can hear it pelting our house as if someone was wringing a sopping sponge over it. kinda like that. yesterday i unpacked all my stuff in layne's room. i was pleased because not only did i find an empty drawer for my undies and socks! but also two empty shelves and some empty hangers in the closet. but last night i was just about to retire to bed, dragging a blanket behind me, when bethany said "there's mice in there you know." whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat. she said layne killed one once by dropping his laundry basket on it! but that he usually put kitty in there to kill it in front of him. YUK. with this new information i was not so eager for a room of my own. "i thought you should know." says bethany nonchalantly. she also said it was no big deal. "there's ALWAYS been mice in there. there's mice in this whole house." so i crawled into the bottom bunk of the cat litter room and had a fitful sleep. i think my own snorting kept waking me up. i finally got up around 8:30. now it's nine and it feels really early because we all went to bed so late, i guess and because no one's around. i'm trying to decide whether to keep the running alive. if i do it's going to take a great amount of effort. i forgot my timer watch too. i just realized that. well that takes the pressure of me for the moment.

yesterday i didn't get around to showering until around 4:30 and then i only changed into different nyammies. we were supposed to watch millions last night. i've been making a big deal about getting people to watch it and so mom katie, sarah-lynn and i all had our blankies and our comfie spots, ready for a good movie, and the dvd player wouldn't work. katie and sarah worked on it with more determination than i think i could have mustered but it was not even cooperating a teeny tiny bit. so instead we sat around talking and that was nice too, and mom made two yummy batches of cheesewhiz popcorn with a dash of parmesean thrown in for good measure. nothing tasted better.

last night was going up the mountain night. amay and bethany had a party to go to and weren't really into it, but sarah-lynn planted all her hopes and dreams on going. suffice it to say that we finally went without the twins, but we took mom. on the way to pick up sarah (she had started home in a big huffer-puffer, disapointed that we weren't going to go, but then we decided to go...etc) we apparently drove right by her. all we knew was that we pulled up to her house and kyle came out and we were like "oh no, she better be coming after all this." but kyle said "you drove right by her." and sure enough as we drove back down bay street there she was on the corner of neyland in her peach toque. she said she had ran behind us waving her arms saying "i'm right here!!" we found this humerous indeedlydoo.

it wasn't raining when we left but by the time we reached the top of the soggy, muddy sugar loaf mountain and positoned ourselves at the base of the pole that was the centre of the half lit tree, the wind was whipping us with balls of rain. every time i turned my head to look behind me at the other girls, i got whipped in the eye. we defied the weather for a time and sang some songs but we didn't stay for long. the rain raged about us and pelted our backs, drenching our legs and bums. we didn't even sing silent night, but as mom said "it wasn't silent up there." ah well it was very clarkeish, and a little adventure and we kept the tradition alive which was important to lovelay.

at home again we sat around the kitchen and talked with dad. he told us some funny stories about the strange things that made mom laugh. mom was in the living room and we could hear her giggle whenever he would bring up a new story. meanwhile he could barely get it out because he's near hysterics just remembering it. and we're laughing because they are and it's nice that our mom and dad have moments like that.

i think today's a wrapping present day. shore, shore.