HELP!!! Finder has gone insane!!!

Ok, serious problem happening and I hope someone out there can help explain it to me or tell me a solution. Starting yesterday the Finder in OSX started sucking up every last free bit of CPU. I tried killing it, but it would just restart with the same problem. I couldn't restart my machine since I was in the middle of some lengthy file transfers over the net. However, this morning first thing I did was reboot and upon login I was faced with the exact same problem!! This is a serious issue as I'm using a laptop and having the CPU running non-stop absolutely decimates the battery life. If you have any idea how to make the Finder stop using 100% CPU, or ways I can investigate what's wrong, please let me know ASAP!! Thanks!

I'm also posting this on the Mac Ach in the hope that someone there might know the answer as well. Note: this is 10.3.4 running on a 15 inch PowerBook with 512 MB Ram.

On a good note, it means my laptop is outputting a ton of heat and keeping me warm on this chilly Seattle morning.