God is truly amazing!  Around the same time that my baby's mom gets herself deeper in trouble, things have developed even deeper with a certain someone.  Best part about it is that we've been best friends for years and everything is well-grounded in truly knowing each other - not the physical crap that brings most people (including my ex and I) together.  So when the divorce is finally over with, we can start to establish more contact with each other's families.  She's definitely a keeper and I have no idea why I let myself give in to the convenience of proximity and dependency with my ex in the first place.  My ex destroyed ties with her own family and I was the only person to lift her up, and I let that become too serious.  I had only known her for a few months at that time.  However, I've been best friends with this girl for years and I hate to say that I'm solely responsible for keeping anything from developing earlier.  The important thing is that she's not holding my past against me, we know each other better than my ex and I ever did, we're not physically-based (though there is DEFINITE physical attraction!), and she would make an awesome stepmom for my daughter, if it comes to that.  I guess I had to learn the hard way what to build a relationship on.  Thanks for all the prayers guys!