Hey Kats - I thought I'd poke my head in on this.
Right now your lives are very hectic and you both have personal grief to go through. It's hard to be consistantly dominant or submissive when these things are going on. Of course it would probably be of tremendous help for you to have that order and stability to fall back on, especially in light of your long term desires... but... well sometimes we can't have that. I don't mean to sound so dry... sorry.
I know you guys have had 'times of adjustment'in your d/s journey, but all in all I think you should know that you guys are inspirational to others. Even if it doesn't feel that way from the inside looking out.
If this is a long term issue, you guys still need to get past the current bumps in the road that life has thrown you before tackling this. Right now there is a lot of sorrow and grief to work through first. Even if you have to put the whole d/s thing on hold for a couple few weeks - or just confine it to the bedroom.
*hugs and kisses*