newbie has TONS of questions - pics incl.

[bloominloonie]

i rec'd this phal as a gift over a year ago now - quite frankly i'm surprised i haven't killed it yet!!! here are my primary questions:

- she has multiple 'legs' or what i would have thought were 'roots' growing out of the pot...should i repot?? (note from the pictures that i think she is close to blooming - there are buds)

- am i supposed to cut this sucker down or something? last year i had several blooms on both stems... this year it grew a new stem off of one of the old stems and looks like it will bloom on that new stem only

- living in dallas we have pretty good humidity outside - has anyone out there had much luck putting phal outside for the summer (in the original pot)?

- on a different note - why would someone pollinate their orchid? i mean - what are the outward advantages to doing so?? i know i am definately ahead of myself but i am more curious than anything (clearly i must have been absent that day in my highschool biology class *nervous laugh*)

just trying to figure this all out and not KILL my one and only surviving plant in 36 years!!!

thanks all who have read my questions, and more importantly to those who will take the time to answer them...

texas love!!