AerBabe,
That's a great post - you sound like you really enjoyed yourself - which IMHO is the main object of what we are doing this for.
I have a friend who had a Tiegr Moth and I got to fly in it once - I couldn't get the ruddy thing to fly in a straight line and daren't think what a pigs breakfast I would've made if I'd got with 1,000ft of the ground!
I reccon it's taildraggers all the way for me once I'm qualified - sounds soooo much fun.
ODS