On New Year's Eve

When Pam's kids were younger, I spent quite a few New Year's Eves "partying" at their place. Pam would buy a bunch of heat-and-serve hors d'oeuvres, and we would eat them in shifts through the night...pizza rolls at 8, pigs-in-a-blanket at 9, and so on. There was usually a cheese ball, and some flavor of sparkling juice so that we could pretend like we were drinking champagne. There was a box of hats and noisemakers that always appeared, and midnight was a flurry of jumping, screaming, confetti, and poking fun at Dick Clark. One year, apparently, somebody (whose arms are those in the background?) thought it would be cute to put a hat on Doreen (or is that Carol?)...she doesn't look amused. Now, Pam was never a "night person." As long as I can remember, she always went to bed quite early, and New Year's Eve was always a struggle for her. Some time after the 10 o'clock food, she would wrap herself up in the nearest blanket and start to drift off to sleep on the couch. She would make us promise to wake her at midnight, but that was never easy. She would grumpily sit up, give a half-hearted "Yippee," and kiss everyone on her way to bed. I was not surprised to find this picture of Pam and friends, at a raucous blast at their house in New Hampshire (year?). I'm not sure if this was taken before or after her New Year's Nap, but notice that she is not motivated to tell the dog to get off the coffee table...but now that I think of it, did she ever tell a dog to get off the coffee table anyway? Happy New Year, Pammie!