On 2003-11-14 06:42:39 -0800, "Jay Honeck" said:

I opted for two notches of flaps.

That probably did a lot to help your landing. Flaps add a nose down pitching moment - something you don't really need with a forward CG.

We arrived firmly, in a flat attitude. The nosewheel and mains hit nearly
simultaneously, and the end result was more like a mush into the ground than
my usual "flare, chirp, chirp, settle...". It was surprisingly smooth, but
I realized that if I hadn't given that extra burst of power, and a firmer
yank on the yoke, we might well have landed on the nose gear, with possibly
expensive consequences.

Not necessarily. Sometimes, this is as good as it gets. I've had lots of nosewheel first arrivals in a Seneca (before I figured out the little flap trick). It's only a problem if you let it get out of hand by chasing the oscillation.