Basicially, there are five bills on the table: two in the Senate and three in the House. Each body must merge multiple bills into one, and vote on that single bill. Then, two houses work to negotiate one bill between themselves. After that, the combined bill must pass both houses. The resulting bill will be sent to the White House and, presumably, signed as law.
In the Friday conference call with Sen. Harry Reid’s office, aides told five or six bloggers (including me) they were hopeful the Senate would pass a bill by Thanksgiving. The president has said he wants legislation on his desk by the end of the year. Whether that’s possible or not remains to be seen.