Tag Archives: women workwear

Tired of being cooped up for weeks on end?  Do you find yourself daydreaming of falling madly in love? Or do you have a sudden urge to clean your whole house, upside down, inside out?  Then you may be suffering from spring fever.

Spring fever is not just a topic of popular poems, movies and songs; there is actually a science behind it.  Scientists say it is a decrease in the hormone melatonin and an increase in the hormone serotonin.  Combined, these shifts cause a rise in energy, increased elation and a desire to find that special someone.  Melatonin is also affected by the amount of light, and since the days are longer, expect to get a sudden desire to be ultra productive.

So how do you cure your spring fever?

First, I would take all that newfound energy you have and fulfill your desire of planting a garden, cleaning your house, or reorganizing your shed.  Plus, it gets you out of the house and into some fresh air, which you have missed for so many weeks.

Second, if you are looking for love, it is time to spring into action.  Set a date to spend time with your loved one.  Or, take a chance and talk to that someone you have been thinking about all winter.

Lastly, get outside.  You have been cooped up too long.  You may be tired of being surrounded by the incessant flu bugs that seem to plague everyone in the winter.  Take a walk, tend to your yard, or go for a bike ride.  Spring is here so take advantage of it!

In the words of Mark Twain, “It’s spring fever.  That is what the name of it is.  And when you’ve got it, you want – oh, you don’t quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!”

What are you aching to do?  Share it with us here or on our Facebook page.

On March 13th, we set our clocks ahead one hour and capture some extra daylight in the evening. For most Rosies this is a cause for celebration. Teresa Kane on Rosie’s Facebook says, “…more time to work outside…Love it !!!!”  Another Rosie, Kerry K. Murphy says, “garden – just got my overalls & I’m ready to start planting! Well, except for the fact that the temps are still in the 20s at night. Oh, and we got a sprinkling of snow yesterday. But there’s always next week!!!!”

The intent of DST (daylight savings time) is to give more daylight in the evening. This simple act of moving the small hand on the clock one hour ahead has widespread impacts, not the least giving Rosies more time to do the things they love. Some reports say DST reduces accidents and injuries, particularly driving. Other reports say DST boosts business and it’s not just because we can work longer. In the case of tourism industry, we can also play longer. DST is even credited for saving energy because less artificial light is used.

With all the benefits of  more daylight comes the downside of adjusting to an hour less sleep. The return to daylight saving time each spring affects the sleep patterns of millions of Americans says, Dr. Aparajitha Verma, in Healthnewsdigest.com. Below are some tips she gives for getting prepared to spring forward:

* Sleep in a quiet and dark environment and set the thermostat at a slightly cooler temperature.
* Don’t allow pets in the bed.
* No reading, eating or watching TV in bed.
* Don’t watch the clock.
* Set a “wind down” time prior to going to bed.
* Don’t take over-the-counter sleep aids and avoid caffeine, nicotine and alcohol close to bedtime, as these can disrupt sleep. Instead, try drinking warms teas or milk to increase your body temperature, which helps induce and sustain sleep.
* Exercise is good for sleep, but not within two hours of going to sleep.

As for the last tip, exercise, it seems not a problem for Rosies. After planning and dreaming for months in the darkness of winter, Rosies are ready to spring into action. How will you use the extra daylight?

More daylight means more chances to enjoy beautiful sunsets. photo from xasauantoday.com

It’s that time of year when we all reflect on the things we are thankful for.  If we go by what we hear in the news, it seems there is little to be grateful for. But Rosies know that’s far from the truth. It’s not the big things in life but the many daily small things that add up making us so appreciative. For Rosies that are gardeners, we are thankful that it rained when it did and when it didn’t, that the gophers didn’t eat our whole crop and the ground squirrels moved on and that winter is finally coming, giving us some rest.

Rosies founder, Sharon Moore, offers her own list of what she is thankful for: my big happy family, the beautiful view of outside my kitchen window, wonderful friends that get me, a sister that is so supportive and finding something to laugh at every day.

Rosies kitchen window view. Now that's something to be thankful for.

What are you thankful for?  We loved to hear from you. Comment below or join the conversation on our Rosies Facebook page. Thanks for sharing.

Once in awhile between projects, we actually have time to read. And of course, we read about new projects. We came across this great magazine Birds and Blooms, Backyard projects, while we were clearing out our coverall closet.

It has all kinds of great ideas to keep us Rosies even more busy. They also listed some really great blogs for more gardening and DIY tips and projects. If you follow a blog you love, let us know. Rosies are all about sharing.

apartmenttherapy.com

yougrowgirl.com

curbly.com

designspongeonline.com

threadbanger.com

howaboutorange.blogspot.com

instructables.com

thebestofdiy.com

diyinsanity.blogspot.com

As the most famous of all labor icons, Rosie the Riveter represents the can-do attitude of women and marks their entry in previously male-dominated jobs and into the American workforce in mass. So how far have women come since 1942?  Well for starters, for the first time in history, American women workers are more numerous than male workers, reports Yahoo’s Catherine Dagger.   She attributes this statistic to technology at home and at work. She reasons we don’t have to wring wash out by hand with super efficient front loader washing machines, so we have the time to work and manage the house. Yippee!  And we don’t have to lift vats of molten steel to manufacture goods. We have robots for that.

A factor she doesn’t mention in the burgeoning class of women workers is the down turn in the economy. According to U.S. labor statistics, more men have lost their jobs than women during this Great Recession. Unemployment rate for adult men is 9.7 percent. For adult women it is 7.9 percent.  And here’s the rub. More men have lost their jobs because men still make more money than women. (In 2008, women earned 77% as much as men.)

A historical side-note: when the first Rosies went to work in 1942, the National War Labor Board urged employers to voluntarily make “adjustments which equalize wage or salary rates paid to females with the rates paid to males for comparable quality and quantity of work on the same or similar operations.” Not only did employers fail to heed this “voluntary” request, but at the war’s end most women were pushed out of their new jobs to make room for returning veterans. For more about this wage gap, read Borgna Brunne’s article . So as in the past, while we’ve come a long way, we still have a ways to go.

And in true Rosie fashion, we keep moving along despite the obstacles (or lower pay). Take Gloria Georger.  She took over as manager of Ford Motor Co.’s stamping plant in Chicago Heights and became one of five female managers at the automaker’s 27 plants in the U.S.. Her boss is also a woman, Jan Allman.  And there are countless others, many of whom have been featured on this blog. Just check out our Facebook page.

This Labor Day, our thoughts are with the original Rosies who stepped up while their men were at war. And for the Rosies today, who also step up while their men are forced to step out. While a lot has changed since 1942, women’s conviction and willingness to show our strength has not.

If you have a Rosies story, we’d love to hear it. Email us at info@roisiesworkwear.com or comment to this blog post.