So that's where I left it
I found my ring! After a fruitless search at the laundry mat and looking around the apartment more, I'd given up on finding it. Then yesterday afternoon, I was looking in the vegetable crisper, trying to decide if I should throw out the one tomato I had left. I picked up the green plastic bag, and I heard something metal fall down into the garlic. Yep, it was my ring! Huzzah!

Freedom
Right now, I'm listening to the beautiful sound of our new portable dishwasher doing its first load of dishes. I've been washing my dishes by hand every night for the past, um, five years, so this is almost as exciting as finding my ring.