Houston, we have a problem

As we all know, we are just waiting on that little piece of paper from the INS. I had made the executive decision that we would wait on our I171 to come-I would drive it to Austin to be certified(everything else has been certified) and then drive on to Houston to stay with my awesome In-laws while getting everything authenticated. I knew I could pay a fee for expedited service at the consulate-so figured we would pay the fee, and have them do it in 2-3 days instead of the general 4-5 day turn around time. Well in my state of anxiety for this approval to come I have gone over the dossier check list about 10 times this week, have made all my copies, gathered all the pictures needed, and reprinted the directions for getting the authentications done-WELL, in participating in that little exercise I realize that the expedited fee is per document, not per package. So $30 per the 11 docs(we had to have some other docs done at other consulates) I have to authenticate on top of the $20 regular fee. $550-that would be crazy right????? So people listen up-if this situation arises for you-This applies to you if you can drive to the consulate-okay maybe not...hear me out. I have now put my package together for the authentication process for the Houston Consulate, Fed Ex'd it to my very generous in-laws who are going to walk our documents into the consulate and drop them off, and then go back and pick them up-that way when this silly little piece of paper from the INS shows up I will continue with the plan of action, and take it to Austin to be certified, and then on to Houston-where now I can pay the expedited fee for just one-yes that is right- just one document(as everything else will be done at that point) saving us about $210 from the original plan. So Great Big Thank You to my MIL, and SIL who are helping more than they know. We owe you a BIG ONE!! Wish I had thought of it sooner. *This would work for you if you use Fed Ex to send the majority of your documents to the consulate, and then after you receive your I171 you could do the courier route, and pay the expedited fee-since it will be hand delievered. That would still save time and money.
I am still holding out hope that the I171 shows up today!!! Update to follow.