Mr. One and I bought a house this summer. It is a shabby cousin to our cute old place, situated just around the corner from where we have been perfectly happy for nearly five years. Truth be told, we really had no reason to move. But a good price, bigger-than-a-parking-place yard and bright Southern exposure dazed me into forgetting the agonies of home improvement. So, we signed on the dotted line. And agony it is. Epically. Delayed. Agony.
Now, I don't like to speak ill of people, but thanks to a no-good lying charlatan of a non-engineer, we needed to find a new architect, redraft our plans and restart the entire permitting process for the main construction project from scratch, setting us back by months. After being thusly burned, Mr. One's approach this time around is very... hands on.
The D.C. permit office is a tormented web of impotent low-level bureaucrats who don't like to share. And Mr. One has lost days of his life there, brandishing our obese roll of drawings from one office to the next, coming home with each signature like the hide of a Nemean lion. But still, the final permit remained elusive. We, meanwhile, remained at Mimo's house.
Finally, after untold labors (on his part) and endless broken promises (on their part), Mr. One believed today could be The Day. But, thanks to other obligations, he couldn't make it personally for the Last Great Battle. So he sent in the B Team. Failure was not an option. (We're sleeping on bunk beds, for crying out loud!)
So, which of the following tactics did I employ to accomplish my mission?
1) Bringing both children with me. On purpose. As props.
2) Casually mentioning, "I walked all the way from Northeast, so I am certainly not in a hurry to leave, but the kids might not do very well come nap time...."
3) Deciding up front that leaving with a permit was more important than leaving with my dignity.
4) Two words: Strategic tears.
The answer is, of course, 5) all of the above. And I am proud to say we were victorious.
I think the tutu was the clincher.
P.S. Stay tuned for more pictures!
