Congratulations! It happens. My husband had his green card in hand in less than 3 months (submitted AOS toward the end of May and got the green card in the beginning of August with no interview required). We were confused and surprised, but happy!
We sent ours in on the 22nd to the Chicago location. Haven't gotten any notifications from them yet but the money was just taken out of my account this morning, so we know they got it.
True, that part is odd. We would get frustrated after being apart for a few months. Hell, we were going to meet again before the interview because we didn't know when it was going to be, but then it got scheduled, luckily.
The misinformation is definitely annoying. I don't blame you for being angry. The whole process can be very frustrating. It'll happen eventually, though. Just keep going.
My fiance and I only met once before filing for our K1 visa and it was no problem for us. We also spent the equivalent of 8 more weeks together after that and before the interview. A lot of things seem to depend on the specific embassy, though.
My fiance had his interview today and got approved in about five minutes, apparently. Saturday (the 1st) will be exactly 19 months from when we submitted the I-129.
So glad all of that is over!
Update:
Even though the person at the embassy told my fiance that he wasn't waiting on receiving something from them and that he just had to keep checking the website, he just got an email with instructions. He was told to make a medical exam appointment and then email them back and they would send an interview date soon. He also apparently pays the visa fee on the day of the interview. Gotta love all of the misinformation...