Update:
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It (front differential) was surprisingly easy to remove
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....and surprisingly difficult to put back in (working by myself), LOL. My first attempts tried to "orient" the front diff, balanced on my floor jack, hoping that I could just lift it up into place. Nope, it required a very special trajectory to get it into place ("over the river and through the woods...."). Used some 12/3 romex wiring to tie it off during various phases, what a PITA.
Interestingly enough, the replacement axle shaft seal was not a tight fit in the housing. The one that came out wasn't particularly tight either. A very light tap of the hand was all that was required to get the new one in. I tried 3 different ones, and they all had the same fit. I looked at the housing for evidence of the previous one "spinning" in it's bore, but didn't see anything unusual. Granted, the axle has some kind of dust cover (part #3 in above link) that covers up this seal when installed, but it still left an odd feeling in the back of my mind. We'll see if it leaks again. I still have to put in some 80W-90 gear oil, and finish putting the front driveline back together before I'll be able to test it. Oh yeah, and my water pump started leaking in the middle of this, so I'll replace that next as well
FWIW - As far as breaking the vent hose nipple (stupid mistake), I couldn't find one at the dealer. It's a large plastic "cup" that threads into the diff case, that has a plastic nipple at the center (not illustrated in the above link from what I could see). Fortunately, I was able to repair it by drilling out the plastic "cup" to the OD of the nipple to a sliding, almost press fit, and then using some plastic cement to "glue" it together. Amazingly, you can hardly tell it was ever broken, and just as strong.