happy new year? or what?

Hi.

It's the time of year when people-- strangers, good friends, family members, or anyone in between-- turn to one another and say: "Happy New year!!!" It's happened to me several times over the past few days. I'll be there, minding my own business, when out of nowhere, I hear "Happy New Year!!!" And it is always followed by at least 3 exclamation points. My only question is...what is the proper response? For a response is always good. I've categorized it down to a few:

Them: Happy New Year!!!
Me: Uh, happy New Year?
[awkward pause in which they walk away fast]

Them: Happy New Year!!!
Me: Hehehe, same to you!!!!!!
[awkward pause in which we realize that we really have nothing to continue the conversation with, so one of us needs to walk away fast]

Them: Happy New Year!!!
Me: Oh, hi!
[awkward pause where I wonder if I'm going to be mugged for not returning the holiday spirit]

Them: Happy New Year!!!
Me: ohhihappynewyearnicetoseeyouhahaetcetera?
[awkward pause which ends when they give a brief, forced laugh and walk away fast]

What can I say...I'm an introverted social creep. But the worst thing is when people say: "So how was your new year?" It's sorta like the "Hey-how-are-you-doing" thing that people rattle off and don't expect an answer to. I never know if I should go into an in depth story about exactly how my entire New Years went, or just say, "It was good!!!" (remembering to put in my three exclamation points, of course). And then am I supposed to ask them how their New Years was? What if I don't care? I don't like being disingenuous...if I want to know how you are doing or if I want to know how your New Years was, I'll ask and expect to stand there listening to you respond. But if I don't care, it's a waste of time. So normally I don't ask people how their New Years was in return. And I normally don't go beyond the "It was good!!!' response. But I'm always confused after encounters like that.

Eh, ok. I need to return to my biology paper research. Final project proposal is due on Saturday, but I want to get it done today. Anyone have any great resources on sensory processing disorder (its definitions, causes, and treatments), and specifically how it relates to the field of occupational therapy?

By the way, happy new year. (!!!)