This week, we took a day and drove to where our house is stored. Although we couldn’t see everything, what we saw was beautiful. Two rooms were inaccessible because the modular was still wrapped for travel. It was a “pinch me, it’s getting real” moment that we’ve both needed.

We are still waiting on our building permit, and nothing can move until we have that piece of paper in hand. Our contractor can’t even start setting the forms without it. I don’t know about First Reader, but I’m beyond frustrated. The waiting is wearing me down.

With luck, next week we’ll have better news about our permit. Even though the county promised a two-week turnaround, we are pushing four weeks. And it looks like they’ll drag their feet until their next self-imposed deadline (July 18) to tell us that some other minor item needs attention. I wish they hadn’t tried to gaslight the fire victims about the time it would take to release permits. The truth I’ve heard from neighbors is that the process takes just as long as it did before the fire. No, wait, that’s not quite right—they’ve managed to cut two weeks from the process. 🙄

For now, we wait while The Powers That Be drag their feet, and our financial resources are pissed away because of bureaucratic bullcrap.