Thanks, everyone. My hotmail account password is very strong -- I guess I won't worry about it. It is indeed my main (has been for about six years), so I'm not about to switch over to something else. I check it almost daily, so I don't think I'm at risk of losing it b/c of the 3-month thing anytime soon.
I guess I just freaked out b/c I've heard of people's accounts being stolen through a PW request to their hotmail accounts -- but in those cases people were IM'ing with the thief, who (I think) cookie-grabbed their MSN PW, then sent a PW request to neo. But I don't IM with anyone other than family, so I guess I'm safe. Thanks for the reassurances. Sorry my thanks are a little tardy -- my DSL stopped working yesterday, just in time for the new plot!
I have to wait for my apt. people to try to fix the line before I can let the phone company try... I just better get it back by this weekend!