It’s just 8 days until Christmas, and even fewer until Hanukkah.  What have I been doing?  Baking cookies for 80 people. The agents in my office are hungry for cookies, and I’m accommodating them in their time of need.

I’ve also been asking around, observing and trying not to shop unless absolutely necessary.

One of my father’s favorite Christmas movies is A Christmas Story.  He watches it every year and laments that he’ll miss it this year since he’s on a boat in the Antarctic channeling Ernest Shackleton.  But I digress…

In A Christmas Story Ralphie tries to convince his parents that a Red Ryder BB gun is the perfect Christmas gift for him.  He obsesses over the Red Ryder while his harried parents and goofy brother stumble through the movie with him.  The parents are obviously not wealthy people, but want to provide a nice Christmas for their boys.  Ralphie’s mother obsesses too.  She’s chronically worried that Ralphie will shoot his eye out if he gets the gun.

That’s my dad’s favorite part.  That Ralphie’s mom says he’ll shoot his eye out.  I think Dad is reliving his own obsessive childhood warnings, but that’s another story.   My favorite part is when the dogs run through the house and take off with the turkey (after Ralphie shoots his eye out, and sorry if I gave that one away.)  Their family ends up eating Christmas dinner at a Chinese restaurant.

I think many Real Estate Agents might be just fine with eating out anywhere right now - Chinese for Christmas means disposable income for a meal in a restaurant.

Here are my observations over the past few days that lead me to think we may have already shot out our eye and are on the road to Christmas dinner out (my puppy is definitely angling for the turkey and he’s already dismantled our tree.)

I went to the mall a few days ago to return some birthday gifts.  It was PACKED.  Capitalized because I was literally elbow-to-elbow with people shopping.  I thought I should pay attention to how many shoppers had bags - most did! Every store except The Art of Shaving was packed (now that’s a niche…) The Art of Shaving was empty.  You may see some bargains there in the next few weeks.

Both of the Starbucks kiosks had lines snaking down the hall.  The department stores were bustling.  Regardless of the bad news in the press, Denver’s holiday shoppers are out and about.

So I thought, “who can I ask about real estate trends right now - trends as they’re unfolding underneath our noses?”  I asked Jackie, our receptionist.  Jackie is the most practical and no-nonsense person I know.  She doesn’t get fired up about much, but when she does - look out!  Jackie has a wonderful relationship with the sellers who have engaged our company.  She calls like an old friend to let them know someone would like to see their house.  Jackie is like a man-on-the-street, only she’s a woman.

I asked her, “Jackie, how are showings going this month?”  To my surprise she said, “kind of busy for a December.”  She continued to tell me that she’s been setting more showings this December than in the past 5 years she’s been with us.  While December is always a slower month, Jackie feels like this December isn’t all that bad.

So I hope that my piles of cookies keep our agents fortified and working toward a better new year.  Judging from the mall and Jackie, we’re turning a corner here in Denver.

This story was written over at LifeStyle Denver.