Thanks for all the kind wishes. I am truly blessed. Met with the boss today who told me that there were a few others for whom the stars had aligned. My portfolio will be able to use the extra "padding", especially given the recent slump in returns, and something that I was on the fence about buying for myself next year (and wondering how to pay for it) just got "inked in". Had some friends outside of the organization being moved who knew of my planned date, call yesterday and say "Hey I just heard the announcement. Dude, tell me, did you nail this?".
Of course my conservatism tells me that it is not a done deal until the deposits are made, and there is a slim (very) slim chance, that the contracted dates, which a fluid and at the company's call, could push out and I could have to stay past 2/1/2017 to to collect all... but it seems very unlikely at this point.