Rita Arens

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  1. I Cried Today at Work

    5/23/12 9:08am by Rita Arens
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    Kleenex Box

    I cried today at work. On two different people. In many companies, that's pretty much career suicide. Yelling at people? Not great, not a dealbreaker. Crying on people? Better to throw up on them. But both crying and yelling show a loss of control, so what's the big deal with crying at work?  Read more >

  2. The God Box: Making Your Faith Real

    5/17/12 2:11pm by Rita Arens
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    God Box widget

    We here at BlogHer were so inspired by Mary Lou Quinlan's latest book, The God Box. In the book, Mary Lou describes finding the boxes her mother used to store prayer requests and thanks after her mother's death, a veritable history of her mother's psyche. It's true sometimes we all need a place to put our challenges and our hopes -- just to get them out of our heads so we can focus on the present. Have you ever wanted a God Box? Now we have one that can go anywhere.  Read more >

  3. Putting Wishes in the God Box With Mary Lou Quinlan

    5/17/12 2:10pm by Rita Arens
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    The God Box cover

    Author Mary Lou Quinlan's mother wrote down her prayers and put them into a God Box. Mary Lou and her brother had no idea how often, though -- when their mother died they found not one, not two but many God Boxes filled with loving wishes for family and friends. I got the chance to talk to Mary Lou about this book and the God Box Project.  Read more >

  4. White Babies No Longer Majority: Why Are Schools Not More Diverse?

    5/17/12 9:34am by Rita Arens
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    Elementary School Kids

    This week the Washington Post noted for the first time in American history, white babies are no longer the majority born in the United States.  Read more >

  5. Do You Really Hate Cable/Satellite Enough to Cut the Cord?

    5/3/12 9:05am by Rita Arens
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    Antennae

    The cable-guy service windows, the shoddy satellite reception with a slight westerly breeze, the 107-minute hold times. Ah, cable television. You've been screwing the American people since the eighties. But your reign of terror just might be over. If you love TV but hate cable and satellite, you need to read this.  Read more >

  6. (PICS) Stuffed Animals Call Octomom's Bankruptcy in 2009

    5/1/12 2:20pm by Rita Arens
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    Octopony house

    Octomom Nadya Suleman is back in the news, having declared bankruptcy even after posing nude in order to make money. This was no shocker to me: My daughter's stuffed animals got the skinny two years ago. Here's my pictoral coverage of the 2009 interview between the Octopony Mom and Dr. Phooh, in which they discuss things like income and housing for fourteen children.  Read more >

  7. (EXCERPT) You Have No Idea

    4/30/12 5:59am by Rita Arens
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    You Have No Idea cover

    Dying to know what busy lady Vanessa Williams and her mom wrote about in their new book, BlogHer Book Club pick You Have No Idea? For one thing, nudity. Here's an excerpt to get you started!  Read more >

  8. Student Loans & Politics: Are You Still Paying Yours?

    4/25/12 10:07am by Rita Arens
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    Student Loan

    When my husband and I got married, we married each other and we married each other's debt. I think we had something like $28k in student loans from my husband when we got together, which we started paying off immediately. Those were the good old days before mortgage and a kid, and we were fortunate to have jobs that paid damn close to what we make combined now, eek, ten years later. If we had to pay those loans off now on top of childcare and all the stuff that comes with rising utilities and food costs and house repairs, we would be in serious trouble. Even back then when everything was (relatively speaking) flush, I lived in fear of being in default of those loans, because what would that do to our credit rating and our ability to buy a house or a car or get a job in the future? Messing with your government loans is serious business: the government can seize your tax returns, garnish your wages and more.  Read more >

  9. Five Tips for Breaking Bad Habits

    4/23/12 5:25am by Rita Arens
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    Sidewalk Closed Sign

    Everyone has bad habits, though we vilify some more than others. Whether your habits are endangering your health or just really annoying to other people, I'm here to help!  Read more >

  10. Will Women Still Like You If You Have Money?

    4/21/12 7:55am by Rita Arens
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    Geneen Roth

    Geneen Roth, the author of BlogHer Book Club pick Lost and Found, talks about losing her life savings to Bernie Madoff.  Read more >

Rita Arens

Full Name
Rita Arens
Member Since
February 2006
About Me: 

Rita Arens authors Surrender, Dorothy and Surrender, Dorothy: Reviews. She is BlogHer.com's senior editor. 

Her parenting anthology and BlogHer's first book, Sleep is for the Weak was published by Chicago Review Press in September 2008 and won a 2009 gold NAPPA.

She lives with her husband and daughter in Kansas City. She has a BA in communications studies from the University of Iowa and a MA in English/professional writing from the University of Missouri - Kansas City. Follow Rita on Twitter.

Location Tags: 

iowa city,chicago,kansas city

School Tags: 

university of iowa,university of missouri kansas city

About Me Tags: 

health,business,work,parenting,mommyblog,politics,current events

Causes Tags: 

healthcare,environment,childcare

 

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