Positive movement in existing home sales for the month of December may be signaling that confidence is being restored.  A slow process, consumers are beginning to move slowly out of the figurative storm cellar after the 'big one.'

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- A 5% increase in U.S. existing home sales in December 2011 from a year ago sends a positive signal that could boost market confidence and attract more buyers, according to Chicago-based BMO Harris.

Here at RE/MAX Suburban, Robin and I took an unscientific, impromptu Realtor survey, and found most believing sales were up, but prices were about the same... so that would tend to back up this Marketwatch story.

My friend's favorite saying is "Stay in the truck."

There are few more poignant one-liner insults than telling someone to "stay in the truck." In effect, you are saying: "Your opinion means little here and you are a newbie, a rookie, a novice... therefore I shall handle this transaction and you are to remain silent."

All you need are those four short, crushingly debilitating words: "Stay in the truck."

But I like to take everything to the next level.  To that end, I've come up with a few even more biting versions.  Such as, "stay in the truck with the windows rolled up."  Meaning: "You are an EXTREME novice, and you don't even deserve to overhear the transaction I, alone, am about to handle based on your rookiness."

Level three is: "Stay in the truck with the windows rolled up and the radio loud." Meaning: "It is ridiculous that I would even attempt to explain the transaction I am about to handle singlehandedly, even after-the-fact, because you are the mental equivalent of a toddler with a blindfold."

Finally: "Stay in the truck with the windows rolled up, the radio loud, and a hose through the window from the exhaust pipe." This is the ultimate insult. "I am so far ahead of you, and so much more capable of handling this transaction, you merely staying in the truck isn't enough... you've begun to take up space that I cannot afford, so the world would be better off if your noviceness were permanently removed."

I think I had too much coffee this morning.

When I was 8, I wanted a lighted viewmaster... the kind you didn't have to point at the window to enjoy the gorgeous 3D effect of Gumby & Pokey or Batman.

I really wanted it.  I had scoped it out in the store.  It came in a canister (see picture), so I knew what shape of package to look for under the tree.

Then one day, it appeared.  Wrapped, in all its glory, was a cylinder-shaped gift, front/center under the tree.  I knew in a flash it must be the lighted viewmaster.

On Christmas morning, while tearing away the final bit of wrapping paper, I learned, painfully, that something else came in a cylinder-shaped container.

Lincoln logs.

Yay, Lincoln Logs.

Don't judge a book by its cover, you might be surprised what's inside.  Actually, the logs brought me far more enjoyment than the lighted viewmaster would have.  Heck, I already had the unlighted kind, and the sun DID rise every morning.