Happy hymns and brand new hims

It's always a special treat at church when we get to sing "Go Tell Aunt Rhodie." You know: Go tell Aunt Rhodie, go tell Rhodie, go tell Aunt Rhodie the old grey goose is dead. Always with that song, it's grey with an e, even though I just googled the lyrics (dark lyrics, them) and it had gray with an a. It's not a terribly popular hymn, so when on that special occasion we do get to sing it, and always at the end of the meeting, I get really excited and want to do like I did when I was a child, and look around the congregation to see if anyone else thinks it's funny that we're singing "Go Tell Aunt Rhodie." Nobody ever seems to think it's funny, but oh! how it makes my day.

It reminds me of that time when someone had recorded two movies from the tv onto the same video tape and, every day for an entire summer, Neil and I and probably Abby and sometimes Sarah, but probably not Ryan would watch (edited for tv) Ferris Bueller's Day Off followed by (edited for tv) Dirty Dancing. I mean, we watched them every day. The great thing was, Jennifer Grey (always with an e) was in both movies. Pre-nose job.
Well, sometime after this summer of great cinematic indulgence, we were sitting in church and the congregation began singing the closing hymn, and Neil and I looked at each other and burst out in hysterical laughter. We were singing the song from Dirty Dancing! Even some of the lyrics were the same: "voices, hearts, and hands." Many a time, including tonight (unsuccessfully), I have pored over the hymn book, trying to find that one hymn that is from Dirty Dancing. It makes me so happy. Bonus points if anyone out there knows the hymn to which I refer. I will find it soon, even if I have to play every hymn on the piano until I recognize it. I've done it before and I'm not above doing it again.

Anyway, there's another song that I sometimes hear in church that makes me really excited, too. On rare occasions, I will be early to church. Also on rare occasions, the organist will be playing classical music for the prelude. Okay, mostly just this one organist named Rita Mitchell, but Rita Mitchell used to play classical prelude organ music, and if things were going my way, and I was there early to experience it, she would play the second movement from Beethoven's Pathetique. This was so awesome. I would have Billy Joel in my head for the whole rest of the day. "This night is mi-i-i-i-ine. It's only you and I. Tomorrow is such a long time away. This night will last forever."

In unrelated and much more important news. . . . I have another adorable nephew! Owen is his name and sleeping is his game. He is adorable. Congratulations, Sarah and Mark!