Well, I really don't like to admit to my own carelessness but I think I should in this case.

Sometimes I forget the old rule "Keep It Simple, Stupid" My paranoia got the best of me. I wondered where all these udp hits were coming from that I had never recieved before so I automatically assume "Cracker or Script Kid". Normally, if I get a probe from a machine it doesn't really bother me unless it's repeated. This time i got about 30 hits so it set off a few warning buzzers. So i start doing some checking around and generally wasting my time. To make a long story short, when I woke up today (sleep is a reset switch, it helps greatly to clarify problems) I had the bright idea to try to actually check to see what MY nameserver was and SURE enough the machine that all the packets originated from was my nameserver. It never dawned on me to check this first, why I don't know. I can make excuses but excuses don't really serve much of a purpose. Why it sent packets to my 137 and 53 not originating from 53 I'm not sure about but I'll consign it to "Things to figure out later", perhaps some redundancy routines on the nameserver's part.
This whole episode reminds me of when I put my first box together from scratch.. I Got everything plugged in and ready to go, hit the switch and nothing happened. After a few minutes of tearing my hair out I realized that I didn't connect the MB wire to the power switch and voila everything was OK.
thanks to everyone who posted their opinions on this matter.

So now it's time for my double helping of crow. Anybody got any catsup?