Lost a lot of oil

[sciroccos at earthlink.net (Jim Ruffi)]

Had my trans out and oil pan off last week.  Have driven the 8v a few
hundred miles, tops.  Checked the oil before a long drive on Saturday and
found it wasn't even on the dipstick!  Almost 2 quarts later, I was OK.

Really dumb, but I didn't check the level after I put the car together, just
added the appropriate amount ("with filter change") per the Bentley and
never bothered verifying via the dipstick.  When the pan was off, the oil
pump spewed a few times...maybe more oil came out than would with a normal
drain plug removal?  I can't imagine it being more than a few ounces,
though.  The dipstick looks original and is properly seated.  The plastic
tube (orange) is seated properly and is intact.

This car runs well: no smoke that I've been able to see, absolutely no oil
leaking at this point from underneath.  I remember back in the day that
exhaust valve stem seals could leak and tons of oil would blow out of the
exhaust, without giving much notice to the drive.....

I did notice that I drove it for a couple of days with the small
intake-to-head breather hose disconnected.  Reconnected that right before
inspection - emissions numbers were very good.

Now that I've added oil, I'm considering draining it, measuring the quantity
and refilling it to make sure I'm not overfilled somehow.  But the dipstick
shows about 80% into the hatched area.  It'll really piss me off if I have
to r&r the head and take care of this!!!  This car was supposed to be
cheap!!!!!

FYI
Stock 85 8V, 180k miles, 10-40 oil
What gives??
Any advice would be gratefully welcomed.

Jim