Echoing all the Jessica and Ethan congratulations! I was just thinking the other day, with Matilda safely here and dazzling her parents with her charm, that we didn't have any new Buffista babies to look forward to. And lo, Jessica steps in!

Yes, sometimes it's all about me.

Question of the weekend - what music do you clean to?

I clean to stuff I can sing to. The soundtracks to Oliver or Les Mis or cheesy seventies stuff like Abba. Cleaning at Christmastime is always (marginally) more enjoyable because I can belt out carols while I'm dusting and mopping.

Sending all kinds of ~ma to Matt and his mom, too.

Question of the weekend - what music do you clean to?

It varies widely, depending on my mood, but it tends towards folk rock and world beat with some and hard rock thrown in there. Also, I generally put on one album and let it repeat rather than go through a string of albums or putting a larger playlist on shuffle.

Recent cleaning music includes: The Rolling Stones' "Beggar's Banquet," Afro-Celt Sound System, Al Stewart's "The Year of the Cat," Ted Hoagland's "The Hoagland Conspiracy," and Bruce Cockburn's "Breakfast in New Orleans, Dinner in Timbuktu."

We haven't dealt with banks since we were eligible for the State Employees Credit Union, or Seekoo, as we affectionately call it. DH has obtained consolidation or home-improvement loans of less than $5,000 simply by walking in and talking with one of the loan officers he knows, with no collateral. Small percentage interest-bearing checking accounts with no minimum balance, low-interest credit cards, online account management, friendly local service and no-hassle "banking" statewide. I've cashed cross-continent SECU checks when out-of-state bank checks might have been refused. I know banks have some, if not all, of these features, but I can't say enough about our credit union.

I have been careful to keep a few bucks in the credit union account that my parents opened for me when I was a kid. As all of my other banks have been swallowed up by BoA and Chase and consequently charged me more fees for fewer services, I now bank exclusively at the credit union AIFG. Unfortunately, they don't do mortgages, so I'm gonna have to go back out into the wide world when it's time to buy a house.

-t, you might want to look at techcu.com - they are no longer federal - becasue they wanted to broaden thier customer base. I'm not sure I am thrilled with them,( there were too many problems signing the paperwork for the new HELOC), but I do like them better than any bank I've delt with .

I shall open a savings account at the credit union tomorrow, then. Sounds good.

Congrats to Jessica and DH! That's great news. After Matilda was born, I had been thinking it was the first time in a long time we hadn't had a baby on the way. So glad that's changed!

I appreciate that we didn't even have a gap. We just didn't know we didn't have a gap. Very considerate timing, Jess and E!

I appreciate that we didn't even have a gap. We just didn't know we didn't have a gap. Very considerate timing, Jess and E!

Oh, good. I'm not the only one who thought to do this.

I'm scared to look back and see how bad my drunken post was last night. I am amazingly not all sinusy this morning after so much wine.

Thanks, beth. I took a look at "how to become a member" and we don't qualify. Sounds like a pretty good deal for those that do, though.