The Plan - Approved!

Exciting news! Our Development Application was approved by Local Council last night.

We sat in the little cordoned-off gallery of the above Local Council Chambers to witness the decision. The process was fascinating. A pastor from a local Church started the proceedings with a prayer and then the Mayor began running through the agenda. Daniel was called up to do a 3 minute spiel about the proposal. He was his usual cool, calm and collected self in the car on the way, knowing he had done the numbers and had enough votes to carry the proposal after personally speaking to the Councillors over the previous weeks.  Though he would never admit it, the nerves must have finally got to him because he forgot my name and referred to me in his opening line as his wife, Daniel. Twice.

I, on the other hand, was a nervous wreck the entire day.

There was a debate followed by a vote. It was unanimous, with all Aldermen in favour of the proposal. It felt like we were on trial, except instead of the adversarial system I am used to from my old Lawyer days pre-kids,  the Councillors stood and said such nice things about the project. It almost brought tears to my eyes. 

Instead of just raising their hands they all gave individual  speeches on the record lending support and wishing us well. They said things like "bold" and "adventurous" and "innovative". It really brought home the scale of the project and how crazy things are going to get around here. The hard work really starts now.

The only problem with a Monday night Council meeting is that many of our favourite restaurants in town were closed but we made our way down to Salamanca and settled in to Smolt for a celebratory dinner, which was brilliant. 

Back to reality today as I spent the afternoon fossicking around the house to put together very crude "Robin Hood" and "Little Cat G" outfits for the boys for their book week parade tomorrow. 

The dichotomy of our project and the daily grind are not lost on me!