Wow, I just sat here and read all your sitch, and man no wonder you had such good advice for me. Your incredibly strong and patient, you seem like an awesome person... whats with the spouses why cant they see it sometimes? I guess in most cases its the old don't know what you got till its gone syndrome. My heart goes out to you, and your in my prayers.
On another note what kind of dogs do you have? My W and I raised Great Danes. Man I miss em so much. My house was full of critters, from the dogs to cats, ferrets, fish, and turtles... of course the horses outside. I really miss them all.