We are a day shy of 6 weeks and here is where we're at.  It is also day 4 of the dog being off leash and intermingled with the cat.  I have needed to yell a few times due to him being a little too much and/or chasing the cat (play, but still at his goober level intensity), but I'm very pleased with where we are at present and this is a huge relief.  He and Saffy are playing nicely too, with less nipping at her heels, but their relationship wasn't as tenuous from the get go.

The big remaining issue is the crate/separation issue.  The trainer was here on Monday and laid out a game plan for me.  It is tedious, but we'll see how it goes.  I did opt to hold off until today (Friday) to start working this as it gives me 3 days in a row to work the plan before I have to leave for a while, nevermind the longer Thanksgiving absence.  My reward for going to Tgiving yesterday was poo and a mess to clean, including a gross wall behind the crate.  Best part was his need to pee at 5am.  Too bad I didn't hear him whining; instead I heard the pee hitting the inflatable mattress.  So I got to clean that up at 5am.

Today the crate came downstairs and I am part way through our first session as I type this.  Wish me luck!  It is basically a process that seems 'logical' to me, but way more refined than something I would have figured out on my own.  It was good to hear someone echoing some of the things I was doing right and building on them.