Good to hear you're doing well. I hope things work out for you.
The impression I get from these few months on campus is that there is always money available somewhere. But its usually controlled by the person who got the research grant. Univ funds are more scarce. And TA funds (while provided by the U) are again controlled by the Prof who's teaching. So you usually have to hunt out specific individuals. Since this guy seems so keen on getting you there... maybe you can visit and ask him to arrange for you to meet with research groups with similar interests and/or professors in the same field who you might be able to TA for. People are rarely willing to committ grant money they worked hard for to people they haven't met, or at least corresponded with in detail.
Just my 2c
As far as my life goes - I'm good. Just started at Stanford this fall. Was all stoked about 'proving myself' when I got here, so I took on a huge workload and got owned. Anyway, winter break just started... so recovery is underway.