Stef,
Take heed of the fact the the overwhelming majority of the prep for your CFI is ground-based. You'll be surprised at how much you have forgotten, or didn't really know in the first place (happens to all of us). Lesson plans are a PITA, and time consuming, but you need to do them--and you don't need to go to All-ATP to do it.

Once you've done the studying, you need to practice teaching on the ground. Your CFI exam will spend as much, if not more time, on being a CFI on the ground as it will in the plane. My CFI checkride was only 1.5 on the Hobbs. The rest was in the classroom.

The key here is to line all the ducks up in a row so that as you are peaking in your academic studies and ground-prep, you can get in the plane and knock it out in short order. Bare in mind that you can always rent a plane, fly solo, and practice all the maneuvers on your own until you are ready for a CFI to come in and fine-tune your skills.

As for the idea of getting the ME rating first, I'd have to agree that while it's possible, it's not the best idea. Not only will not be able to put it to much use right away, but the FSDO may be a little harder on you. Besides, if you are looking to go the airlines, you won't need it with your overall ME experience.