Texas incoming fellows and licensing

I am currently in California and I'm moving out to TX next month to start a practice. I just found out three days ago that my application is complete (that is I took the JP exam, submitted all the paperwork, etc.) However, that is not the end of it! Listen to this. In order to obtain a permanent license, your application must be complete 20 (yes 20!) days before the Board meets. If you're late, then you have to wait for the next time the Board meets (they meet 6 times a year), so in my case, it's Feb.

In the meantime, you can obtain a temporary license which is given out weekly, and that costs $50. However, you're not issued a permanent license right away either. There is some kind of RANDOM drawing where you are given either a 6,9,or 12 month permit for which you pay again another couple of hundreds of dollars. After that you have to re-register every 2 years at $752.

Does this sound ridiculous to anyone else? Do other states do it like this? I asked if I could talk to the department that assigns the random drawing to see if applicants are equally assigned 6,9,12 mos permits, but the rep said I could not. So as you can see, this is a very expensive process, so plan ahead. I was wondering how other people have dealt with this.