The plot thickens.

Later today, the engine missed once horribly...it almost sounded like something broke. The CEL came on, but the engine recovered itself and I continued along, as there seemed to be nothing else wrong. After I scheduled an appointment, I ran a couple errands before picking up the kids at day care. Mind you, the car was running fine at this point. I pick the kids up, strap 'em in, start the car...and the CEL didn't illuminate! WTF? I didn't know CELs could clear themselves. The next question is this: Will there still be a fault code in memory, or did that go away when the CEL did?