This article first appeared in ADDitude Magazine online.

I have a trunk full of reusable grocery bags. They make me feel so environmentally conscious. Until I get to the check out line and remember that they are … still in the trunk of my car.

Why can’t I remember to bring them IN to the store? (Oh yeah. ADD). Once, when there was no one in line behind me, I actually excused myself and ran outside to get them. Of course, by the time I returned, six people were glaring at me, waiting impatiently to check out. Won’t do that again.

But what’s the point of having reusable bags if I don’t, eh, USE them?

A good friend of mine unwittingly solved my ADD-ish problem with her Christmas gift last year. She gave me a ChicoBag. I love these little critters!

ChicoBags are fat little bundles that expand to full size grocery bags. Made of polyester, these mighty little sacks can hold up to 25 pounds of groceries (the larger size holds 40 pounds!).

Each one has a self-fabric storage sack sewn into the bottom seam (so ADD folks like me never lose it). And best of all, the ChicoBag has a carabiner (hook) so it attaches to your purse, belt loop, notebook, shopping list, you name it! I love the bright colors, too. Some of the newest ChicoBags are made of 99% recycled materials – even better for the environment!

I bought several more at the ChicoBag website for $5 each. What a bargain! And if you buy five, the company throws in the sixth one for free.

I attached three ChicoBags to my purse on an unused key ring. I know I look a bit like a pack animal with my pink, purple and green bags, but hey – I’m using them! Sometimes, I even use them at the hardware store or department store, too.

 It’s a perfect ADD tool:

A.  There are no parts to lose
B.  The little hook lets me take it with me everywhere
C.  Comes in bright colors so it doesn’t get lost in my piles
D.  It’s cheap and good quality

I just love it when something works for me and my ADD.

I love it even more when it also helps the environment.

Viva Green ADDiva!

This article first appeared in ADDitude Magazine online.

I can see clearly now — but only when I can find my glasses. So, I have discovered the best invention ever for attention deficit adults.

For the most part, I don’t mind getting older (quite possibly because I am in denial).  “Age spots” don’t send shudders down my spine – they look like freckles to me. I’ve never had freckles; they seem kinda friendly, like Pippi Longstocking.

And I’ve never been obsessed about the differential between the year I was born and the year displayed on my cell phone. Birthdays, schmirthdays. Who cares? I admit, however, I’m a bit shocked that 60 is coming at me like a freight train. Oh how my attitude changes with perspective! As an adolescent, my matter-of-fact view was that by 60 you were on death’s doorstep; today, I’m convinced that 60 really IS the new 40; or 35.

But when I have to squint to read the instructions on the back of the pizza box (they made the print smaller, I swear), I’m ready to turn back the clock. Reading glasses, of course, make all the difference in my reading comprehension.  Sadly, my glasses are rarely within an arm’s reach, my first criterion for actually plopping them on my face.

I thought I’d solve the problem by stashing multiple pairs of inexpensive readers all over the house (Costco kindly sells them in the convenient three-pack). But somehow the glasses migrate to my computer or bedside, under papers, stuck in drawers, tangled into a magnifying heap.

So imagine my delight when I discovered that the FOFA folks (that’s Find One Find All, the best invention ever for ADDivas) had unveiled a new locator device for glasses. Woo hoo!

A word of explanation: a couple of years ago I found a fabulous key locator in, of all places, Radio Shack (yes, yes, I “located” a key locator!). The package contained two devices, one for a key ring, the other for a wallet. Each had six buttons with numbers. I learned how to set up the locator so that when I lost the car keys, for instance, I could press “1” on the wallet device and the key ring would beep. If I lost my wallet, I could press “2” on the key ring and the wallet device would beep. Great idea, great execution. I only needed to find one thing with the beeper and I could find up to six other missing objects that were attached to a FOFA. I wanted more of them, but Radio Shack stopped selling them.

I delved into the Internet to track down the manufacturer (“made in China” was my only clue). Finally I found it, a small company in Texas owned by the “Find One, Find All” inventor.

I ordered several sets of their ‘new and improved’ FOFA model, attaching one to my camera, my van keys, my purse, my cell phone. They worked! What a miracle; I wanted to buy stock in the company. I eagerly ordered the new glasses locator.

It was, well, a disappointment. I’m sure it’s my ADD sensitivities, but I can’t stand even a tiny bit of weight around my neck. The little button panel, even shrunk down to less than half its original size, proved far too distracting for me.

So, I’m heading back to Costco today. A few more three-packs and I’ll have so many pairs of readers, they’ll always be within an arms reach. And perhaps I won’t burn the pizza next time.

A friend of mine sent me a link to "Despair, Inc." which is the pessimist’s dream come true (if pessimists believed in dreams…). Tons of anti-inspirational posters and other stuff that is so, so true on occasion.

New item releasing in about two weeks? A social media T-shirt that’s a Venn diagram that intersects ADHD, Stalking and Narcissism. Not a nice combo but it’s pretty funny (although this was the first I’d heard of Twitterstalk.com)

I might have to own one of these actually….

If you want one, visit Despair, Inc.

And if you want an ADDiva T-shirt (instead or in addition to…) they are on SALE this month through the 4th of July!  Regular $20, now just $16 plus shipping (and tax if you live in NC).

Click here and enter Tee20 for the coupon code! Good only through midnight July 4th 2009!

Hugs and love
Linda

Well, I’m always on the lookout for possible ADHD "solutions" — or more accurately, products and ideas that will support ADHD in a positive and encouraging light. So, I was de-LIGHTed to find a product that blocks the blue LIGHT waves that can suppress melatonin production, which in turn can make it difficult to go to sleep at night.

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