Thursday Thirteen #280

 Thirteen laundry symbols. I do not enjoy doing laundry. Yet it is the one domestic chore I am good at. I can't cook or sew, but I am a laundry diva. I can remove stains -- if it's organic, pre-treat with shampoo -- and successfully wash just about anything in the machine.

Because laundry is top mind right now, I'm defining 13 of the symbols commonly found on tags.

Dry clean

 

Do not dry clean

 

Hand wash

Machine wash

Mach wash gentle

Mach wash cold

Mach wash hot

Bleach

Do not bleach

No dryer

Tumble dry

Do not iron

Iron low temp

Happy washing!

 

Please join us for THURSDAY THIRTEEN. Click here to play along, and to see other interesting compilations of 13 things.

 

That's a wrap

At just before 5:00 today, I approved the last little bit of creative I will ever work on with this agency. It was for my automotive client. They left word that they are "very happy." A nice note to close on.

So I think I'm done with active projects. I know my last day will be next Thursday. That covers what I think and what I know. I just don't know how I feel as time is running out on my advertising career.

I went grocery shopping today -- Wednesday! -- at the big grocery store on the other side of town. I don't have to do chores and errands on weekends anymore. I may get wild and wacky and do my laundry Friday afternoon, instead of Sunday!

I have to set the alarm clock tonight because I have a dentist appointment tomorrow at 9:00, not because I am working. After tomorrow, I don't know when I'll have to set it again. 

I am ready for this chapter to be over. I am chatting with my former boss, Aaron, on Friday. We're having drinks at work one last time next Wednesday. My severance is in place and it's completely fair. I've been exploring transcription work -- something my oldest friend did on the side to pay for a vacation -- that I can do from home. 

I have made medical appointments (dentist, the surgeon who did my lithotripsy) and it was cool to just be able to say, "Yeah, that day works," without wondering which meeting I'd be missing.

I have my Medicare Supplement paperwork here, waiting for my review and signature.

The George Clooney/Julia Roberts movie opens at my local theater on Friday. I may catch a weekday matinee!

I've been working full-time since I was 17, so this all feels so weird.

This is everything

The Yankees advanced to the ALCS. Which means Anthony Rizzo is happy. Which means I am happy.

When he was traded by the Cubs, I cried legit tears. I followed him his career here for nearly a decade. I was at Wrigley Field for his first home run within the friendly confines. I have been inspired by his joie de vivre and guts on the field and his tireless charity work off of it. He has helped countless families deal with pediatric cancer, advocated for the survivors of the Parkland school shooting, and provided hot meals to front line workers during covid.* If I ever had a son, I would want him to be exactly like this man.

So he has to get another World Series ring. Because clearly that's the most important thing to him. His Cub teammate Kris Bryant signed a long-term, no-trade contract with the Colorado Rockies because he's a new dad who doesn't want his family uprooted. Javier Baez went with Detroit and a bigger payday. Rizz took less money but chose to stay with the Yankees because, unlike the Rockies and the Tigers, they are contenders.

Maybe, after he wins another ring, he can come home and finish his career back here. Where he belongs.

But for now, GO YANKEES!

 

*He had the food catered from small, independently-owned Chicago restaurants, the ones that struggled the most during lock down. He's not only good, he's smart.