Mother’s Day will be here before you know it and in honor of moms everywhere, we stop to recognize some pretty incredible mothers.

Most surviving children from a single birth

This dubious honor goes to the infamous ‘Octomom’, Nadya Doud-Suleman, who gave birth to octuplets in 2009.  The super-birth brought her grand total of kiddos to a whopping 14.

Most productive surrogate

Carole Horlock, 42, has given the gift of parenthood to many lucky British couples.  As the world’s most prolific surrogate, Horlock has had 12 children in the past 13 years, including a set of triplets born in 2008.

First male mother

There are plenty of great dads out there but Thomas Beatie – who was born a woman – became the world’s first male mother in 2008.  Beatie and his wife Nancy now have three children, all of whom he gave birth to.

Youngest mother ever

Peruvian preschooler Lina Medina gave birth to a healthy baby boy in 1939, when she was just five years old.

Oldest first-time mom

In November 2008 an Indian woman named Rajo Devi Lohan gave birth to her first child.  Lohan was 70 years young.

Oldest mom of multiples

At the age of 70, Omkari Panwar gave birth to twin boys, adding the first male heirs to her family. The family includes two adult daughters and five grandchildren, who are all older than their uncles.

Longest stretch between diaper changes

Elizabeth Buttle is a mom of two.  This is nothing special, right?  Consider this: Buttle’s first child, Belinda, was born in 1956; her second, Joseph, was born in 1997.

The Mexican celebration of Cinco de Mayo (Fifth of May) honors the Mexican army’s victory over French occupation.  Even if you are not a Mexican citizen, you can party like one this year thanks to our ultimate Cinco de Mayo playlist:

1. Bailamos by Enrique Iglesias

As an originator of the late-90s Latin pop craze, Enrique Iglesias has won us over with this catchy tune about a dance party that lasts forever.

2. Rhythm is Gonna Get You by Gloria Estefan

Ok, so she is Cuban, not Mexican, but Gloria Estefan was bringing Latin beats to the airwaves long before any of us were ‘Livin’ La Vida Loca’.  For that she deserves some respect and a spot on our countdown.

3. Maria, Maria by Carlos Santana featuring The Product G&B

Who can resist Santana’s magical guitar riffs?  This steamy, soulful groove pairs perfectly with a cool margarita.

4. Suerte by Jason Mraz featuring Ximena Sarinana

The way Mraz plays guitar reminds us of chilling out on a Mexican beach, so it is only fitting that this Spanish version of his hit Lucky should wind up on our list.

5. Macarena by Los Del Rio

You know you love this song, and we are sure that you still remember all the moves to this 1990s cult classic.  If you are too ashamed to play this one for your friends, just wait until everyone has loosened up with a few cervezas and get ready to get down.  Hey, Macarena!

You work hard all year keeping your office running smoothly. On Administrative Professional’s Day, call in sick and treat yourself to a movie offering plenty of laughs at the boss’s expense.

9 to 5 (1980)

This may be the ultimate secretary movie. Three browbeaten administrators have had it with their jerk of a boss, so they tie him up, hold him hostage and turn their boys’ club office into a workplace where girls rule.

Starring: Jane Fonda, Dolly Parton, Lily Tomlin

Anger Management (2003)

A mild-mannered executive assistant, played by Adam Sandler, is forced into anger management classes after he is accused of ‘air rage’ when an in-flight confrontation spirals out of control. Hilarity ensues when his treatment has an unexpected effect.

Starring: Adam Sandler, Jack Nicholson

The Devil Wears Prada (2006)

This little gem is about a recent college grad who dreams of becoming a journalist but instead finds herself pinned under the business end of a stiletto as an assistant to a powerful fashion editor. You will cheer – and cringe – as she goes to almost any lengths to please her impossible boss and climb a few rungs up the publishing ladder.

Starring: Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway

Office Space (1999)

OK, so this cult classic isn’t really about administrative professionals, but it is full of office humor that any cubicle dweller can surely appreciate and, of course, there is that iconic scene where the poor fax machine meets its doom…

Starring: Ron Livingston, Gary Cole, Jennifer Aniston

So you think your neighborhood is a dump? For folks living near one of the nation’s biggest landfills, it literally is a dump! In honor of Earth Day this Sunday, 4/22/12, here are ten at the top of the list exposed.

Arapahoe Disposal Site, Colorado
Handles nearly two million tons of garbage each year including stuff like asbestos and petroleum-tainted soil.

Veolia Orchard Hills, Illinois
Located 50 miles west of Chicago, Veolia Orchard Hills takes in 2.08 million tons of trash every year.

El Sobrante, California
Covering roughly 500 acres, El Sobrante processes 2.1 million tons of garbage annually and uses the gas produced by burning trash to power more than 6,000 area homes.

Pine Tree Acres, Michigan
This sounds like the name of a nice subdivision, but it is actually a dump that receives about 2.14 million tons of Canadian garbage a year.

Rumpke Sanitary, Ohio
More than 2.17 million tons of trash come through this landfill, located about 40 miles west of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Atlantic Waste, Virginia
About half of the 2.32 million yearly tons of trash is brought in by train.

Okeechobee, Florida
Spread over 850 acres and manages 2.64 million tons of garbage annually.  Part of the facility is certified by the Wildlife Habitat Council.

Newton County Landfill Partnership, Indiana
Gas from the nearly three million tons of garbage burned at this 265-acre landfill powers a factory that produces egg cartons.

Puente Hills, California
This municipal landfill processes more than 3.1 million tons of trash a year – a third of LA County’s waste.

Apex Regional, Nevada
Receives about 9,000 tons of garbage every day, and its 2,200 acres can support a daily rate like that for the next 200 years.

It’s April 17^th, which means that if you’re reading this you’ve survived tax season in the USA!  Unfortunately, our Canadian friends still have a couple more weeks of torture (as well as our sympathies). But with tax season over for most of us, and the weather changing for the better, we know you’re ready for something fresh and new.

We’re here to help so we have a question for you…

What would you do with a free $500 to spend at Overstock.com?

Perhaps all winter you’ve been looking forward to dusting off the back deck and you could really use some shiny new patio furniture, outdoor lighting, or some grilling accessories? Or if you’re an active person you might want to gear up for some outdoor runs, hikes, or sports. Maybe you just want to freshen up your home with some new décor, fresh new linens, or some bright new curtains.  Well, we are thrilled to bring to you a giveaway that can help you achieve those goals without any pain to your wallet.

Of course if you already have everything you could want and are one of those truly generous souls, you could use your free $500 for this year’s Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and graduation gifts.  You can’t go wrong with this season’s latest gadgets. As I am sure you already know, Overstock.com has all the hot electronics and great prices on items like iPad accessories, Nook Colors, and digital cameras.

No matter what you want to shop for, we are treating one lucky reader to a free $500 to spend at Overstock.com!

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As April 15th looms, most of fear nothing more than the dreaded IRS audit.  An audit is usually not as bad as it seems, unless you are one of these unfortunate folks:

A New York court refused to overturn an auditor’s ruling that a Brooklyn tax attorney could not write off the $120,000 he spent on prostitutes and pornography.  The man claimed that his purchases qualified as medical expenses because of the “positive health effects of sex therapy.”

An IRS auditor once refused to allow a woman to deduct about $100,000 in medical expenses resulting from an auto accident that left her daughter in a coma.  The amount, claimed the auditor, was “just too much.”

An auditor once disallowed a particular deduction on a taxpayer’s business equipment, saying it conflicted with another deduction he had already claimed.  After some run-around, the issue was resolved in the taxpayer’s favor; he later learned that the agent was a former receptionist at the IRS office and had only recently been trained to conduct audits.

In 2009, the Seattle Times reported that a single mother of two was audited because the IRS didn’t think it was possible for her to support her family in an expensive city like Seattle on her meager income alone.  They believed she was hiding unreported income and slapped her with a $16,000 tax bill.  It turned out that her yearly salary of around $20,000 was enough to take care of her kids because she lived in a home owned by her parents and didn’t drive a car – the IRS had incorrectly interpreted their own law.

Apparently, Easter is not all giant bunnies and chocolate…

1.  The Flying Bells

In Belgium, France and the Netherlands, children are made to believe that all the church bells fly to Rome a few days before Easter, returning with chocolates and colored eggs.

2.  Easter Fire

Easter in Germany is traditionally celebrated by creating a fire with last years Christmas trees to symbolize the victorious beauty of spring in the cold winter months – Chances are, your Christmas tree is fire wood by now but something to keep in mind for next year?

3.  The Easter Tree

Easter trees are a common symbol of the season, but a family in Germany has taken it to a whole different level.  What started out as a simple yard decoration in 1965 has become a lovely tradition featuring beautifully painted eggs.

4.  Butter Lamb

A strange Polish Easter tradition involves a lamb made entirely out of butter.  The lamb is required table fare if a priest is present for the Easter meal and must be consumed – yes, consumed – starting at the tail and saving the head for last.

5.  Rocket War

The village of Vrontados, on the Greek island of Chios, is the scene of a ‘war’ every Easter.  The town’s two orthodox churches face off in a good-natured battle, launching fireworks and homemade rockets at one another.

6.  Maundy Thursday

The Thursday before Easter is observed in different ways around the world.  In Germany, people eat green foods and almonds in remembrance of Jesus’ Last Supper; in England, the Queen hands out money to commoners, usually an amount equal to her age.

Here are five April Fool’s Day pranks you will wish you had thought of first:

1.  Rickrolling

On April Fool’s Day 2008, Rick Astley’s inexplicable hit Never Gonna Give You Up got a brief second wind as video sharing site YouTube linked every one of their featured videos to the deliciously tacky music video.  The act came to be known as Rickrolling.

2.  The Taco Liberty Bell

On April Fool’s Day 1996, Taco Bell announced that it had purchased the iconic Liberty Bell in an effort to “help alleviate national debt.”  Public outrage raged until noon that day, when Taco Bell finally let America in on the joke.

3.  The Left-Handed Whopper

Burger King released the Left-Handed Whopper on April 1st 1998; the burger supposedly featured condiments rotated 180 degrees, making it easier for left-handed customers to eat.  The company revealed the hoax the next day, but not before thousands of people had placed their orders for the new sandwich.

4.  Spaghetti Farming

Back in 1957, a BBC news show featured a report on Swiss ‘spaghetti farmers’ during an April 1st broadcast.  Hundreds of viewers placed calls to the station hoping to find out how they could grow their own spaghetti trees.

5.  Google MentalPlex

Google has become famous for its fantastic April Fool’s Day pranks, but it all started in 2000 with the announcement of ‘MentalPlex Technology’, which claimed to read users’ minds.  After staring at a rotating shape and thinking their search terms, gullible users were taken to a results page for April Fool’s Day.

The emergence of spring has been celebrated by many cultures the world over for thousands of years.  To mark this year’s vernal equinox, why not try one of these unusual traditions?

In Iran, the days preceding the equinox are known collectively as the festival of No Ruz (New Day).  People clean their homes, repair broken items and decorate their houses with fresh flowers.

The Irish celebrate St Patrick’s Day on March 17th.  The patron saint of Ireland, St Patrick is credited with driving snakes out of the country and introducing Christianity to the pagan population.  The celebration of St Patrick’s Day has become a time of fun and merriment when people honor Irish heritage and culture.

Russians celebrate Maslenitsa, a folk festival held just before the start of the Lenten season, which is traditionally a time of somber reflection and penance.  One of the strangest customs of Maslenitsa is the practice of burning a straw effigy along with leftover food from the day’s feasting; the ashes are scattered on the fields to help fertilize the year’s crops.

In the village of Lanark in Scotland, townspeople celebrate Whuppity Scoorie on March 1st.  Kids gather in front of the local church at dawn and then race around the church shouting and waving paper balls over their heads.  After three laps around the building, the children pick up the coins that have been tossed by local leaders.  It is thought that the tradition has roots in a pagan custom of scaring off evil winter spirits in preparation for the coming of spring.

You don’t have to serve green beer to bring a bit o’ the Emerald Isle to your St Patrick’s Day wedding.

The Celtic Knot is an ancient symbol of love and commitment.  Consider Celtic-style wedding bands, invitations, ceremony programs or wedding cake decorations.

St Patrick used the three-leaved shamrock plant to explain the concept of the Christian Holy Trinity to ancient Irish pagans.  A great way to set the tone for a St Patrick’s Day wedding is by using shamrocks as table décor, in your centerpieces, for favors, or in the bridal party flowers and boutonnieres.

Green is the traditional color of Ireland, but it is not the first hue most people think of when it comes to weddings.  Go with light, tasteful touches in various shades of green to avoid overdoing it.  Use splashes of color in the table linens and place settings, ribbons wrapped around the bridal party bouquets, or in the bridal party attire.  For the daring bride, a pretty green sash, jewelry or shoes are great ways to stick to the theme without being tacky.  Gold or pale yellow accents add class and elegance.

During the ceremony and reception, choose Irish ballads that hold special meaning, hire a bagpiper to play before or after the ceremony, ask a relative or close friend to read a traditional Irish blessing, or serve classic Irish dishes like stew, coddle and soda bread.  And, of course, be sure the bar is stocked with plenty of Guinness and a variety of Irish whiskeys!