27.If you've found yourself stranded this year, that doesn't mean that you have to stay home alone. Do what you take pleasure in but never seem to find time to do. Go online and book yourself a last minute cruise or resort vacation with Thanksgiving Day or Christmas tucked into the middle. One of the great things about being single is that you can get up and go whenever the spirit moves you. Take advantage of any extra time off and have some fun. If the Bahamas or Paris have always been on your list of cities to visit, why not do so now? Or if you want to do the local thing, just book a room and disappear in a downtown hotel. Play tourist, enjoy room service, relax and unwind.

28.Set aside some time to catch up on your letter writing. Reach out to family and friends with letters - individualized letters, not the massive, generic, carbon copied e-mail. It is always good to express love and show appreciation. Write words that make their spirits bright. No "poor me, I'm alone" dialogue. Make your missives uplifting, positive and choose your words carefully. Swipe a few special words from a greeting card that may help to express your feelings.

29.Relieve a Caregiver! Spend a few hours with someone who needs care - thus providing respite for the primary caregiver. By doing this, the primary caregiver will have an opportunity to relax, shop, and take care of personal needs.

30.Single parent? You may be facing an upcoming holiday during which you will be alone. Most parents have arrangements in which they share or alternate holidays with an ex-partner. When it is the other parents turn to be with your child on a holiday, you may wind up feeling depressed, sad and blue. This year, take the holiday by the horns and banish those bad feelings.

• Talk to Your Child - The first thing you must do to keep the holiday blues at bay is to talk to your child. Make sure your child understands where he or she will be spending the holiday. It can be helpful to mark the plans on a calendar so that the schedule is solid in your childs eyes. Explain that you will miss him/her while he/she is with the other parent on the holiday, but point out that you are happy that he/she will be having fun and want him/her to have a good time.
• Make Plans With Your Child - Plan out with your child when you will celebrate the holiday together. For example, if your child is spending Thanksgiving Day with the other parent, plan your own Thanksgiving for the day after or for the next weekend. Its not important what you do or when you do it, as long as you plan a way for you and your child to celebrate the holiday together in some way. This will help your child feel confident that both parents are truly a part of his/her life.
• Keep Your Sad Sack Feeling to Yourself - While it is important to be honest with your child, it is equally important that you not burden him or her with the responsibility for your happiness. Do not tell your child that you will be miserable, lonely, in tears or completely depressed while he or she is with the other parent. It is okay to say you will miss him/her, but follow this statement with reassurances that you will be together again soon.
• Plan Some Kind of Contact With Your Child on the Holiday Itself - Plan to call him or her on the phone or even to stop by for a quick hug and kiss on the other parents front porch. Making contact with your child on the holiday itself will not only help your child cope, but will help ease your own feelings of loneliness.

31.Take time out for spirituality. Celebrate the religious significance of the holidays. The holidays are first and foremost a time of spirituality and recognition of special religious events. They are about finding something spiritual and wonderful about yourself, your life, and the people who fill it and make it special. You might attend services just to experience human contact and community. Often this may be a good time to renew your spiritual beliefs and spend more time in contemplation of spirituality. It can be an important aspect to understanding your life, your motivations, and your relationships with others. Be in the presence of others as they worship and sing praise to God. Ask them to pray with you and for you.

32.Don't feel you have to everything as you did in previous years. It's perfectly fine to let family and friends assist you with shopping, cleaning, cooking, wrapping gifts, delivering, and many other details connected with holidays. If being in crowded malls with festive shoppers and holiday music playing promises to be upsetting, then don't go. Some families do all their shopping via catalogs and the Internet.

33.Get around to projects you've been putting off, such as making a scrapbook of last year's vacation mementos, painting the bathroom or refinishing that antique dresser Aunt Sally left you. Organize your your CD or DVD collection. Find mates for all your single socks. Purged your Christmas card list of all those who never stay in touch. Most likely you'll find the process meditative, and you'll have lasting results to show for your efforts. This holiday season, treat yourself to some tranquility and renewal. . . or whatever matters most to you.

34.Capture those Kodak™ moments for friends. Bring your camera to take photos of the gathering, then send copies or printouts to the your friends soon afterward. It's also a good way to be actively involved in the group.

35.Accept invitations that come your way, even if it means going solo. When people ask about your plans, don't create a fictitious family gathering out of embarrassment. Be honest and say you don't have any plans. With any luck, someone will issue a sincere invitation for you to join them for a holiday meal or special outing. You might just have a good time and won't know unless you go.

36.Invite families of service men and women into your home - especially those alone and with loved ones away on foreign soil. Buy them a pre-paid phone card and invite them to call their loved ones. Or give them a pre-paid phone card to send to a serviceman or woman (Call back to the U.S. from U.S. Military Bases worldwide for 6¢ a minute). Remember our Men and Women who won't be by our sides this Holiday Season. They will always be in our hearts and minds.

37.Reach out to natural disaster victims. With all of the natural disasters that have happened recently, there will be hundreds of families who would appreciate being invited to share a holiday meal with you. Contact the Red Cross. They'll know where help is needed.

38.If Thanksgiving or Christmas is not your holiday, offer to cover a shift for a co-worker who would really appreciate the time off.