Will I have fermentation problems? Sorry for the long post.

I ordered a Sweet Stout extract kit from Northern Brewer along with an ESB extract kit. When I received the delivery the smack pack for the Stout was kind of crunchy, there still was some liquid but some of it was crunchy. The other smack pack for the ESB was fine. I called NB and told them the situation and that I was afraid that the yeast was frozen and bad. NB suggested that I make a starter prior to brewing and see how the yeast works. If it's bad they'll replace it.

Well I smacked the pack on Wed morning and when I came home Wed night it was swollen like a pillow. I took 650ML of spring water and brought it to a boil with 1/2 cup of DME. I boiled it for 10 min then put it in an ice bath. When the flask was cool to the touch I shook the flask well to aerate it. I then sanitized my yeast pack and poured it in.

The bubbler has been bubbling slowly and there never really was a large amount of foam from the fermentation, but you can tell there is plenty of activity (almost like bubbling soda).

My questions are these:
1. I want to brew tomorrow (Saturday) do you think that the yeast is good enough to brew with?
2. Should I have more activity from the yeast and due to it being partially frozen I should call NB and request a new replacement?
3. Should I put the flask in the fridge and prior to pitching let it worm up and decant the spent wort? Or do I just wait until tomorrow and mix it up and pitch?

Sorry for the long post but this is my first time using liquid yeast and I really am looking forward to having this Sweet Stout.

Thanks again!
Bryan

Sounds like it's still active and alive, the starter is to increase the cell count, so it should still work fine, maybe just a bit slow. You don't really need to refridgerate unless you plan on waiting a while before you brew, at least I don't, I'm pretty sure this is just for preservation so the yeasties don't start to die when they run out of food (although I could be wrong). Also, boiled tap water is fine (and cheaper) for extract brewing.

yes
no
just mix and pitch

Sounds like it will fine. Yeast are pretty tough critters.

Well it's Sunday and I'm going to brew my Cream Stout today. The starter has pretty much finished fermenting and seems to have quite a bit of settlement. Now the question is that I have about 800 ML total in the flask, do I pour off some of the spent wort and the mix in the yeast slurry? Or do I just mix it all up and pour it in?

You can decant some of the liquid if you wish, but only 800 ML of liquid isn't going to hurt your brew any and there might just be some suspended yeast in that liquid.