During this, the final week of my solo month, there have been lots of opportunities to give up and run to a bar, or go to Fire Island for one last fling before the kids come home.

Instead, I've dabbled in cooking, reading, and sampling wine. I've become an expert in the latter. My friends have given up in frustration trying to set me up with dinner-party hotties.

I've resigned myself to the single life, for at least the foreseeable future.

Labor Day weekend will be my last shot at a three-day getaway. So I've been Googling activities that don't involve getting spruced up for the opposite sex. That means no going to a spa, or a resort, no facial peels or shopping sprees. Obviously alcohol and orgies are out.

Instead I decided to try a resource in the New York metro area that supports mental and psycho-spiritual well-being. There were plenty of opportunities not more than an hour from my home that offered to stretch and encourage my inner goddess.

There was the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health Center in Stockbridge, Mass., which says it aspires to "teach the art and science of yoga" and is a "place where people come together to deeply inquire into the core issues of life."

Kripalu has a radiant health retreat for women on Labor Day Weekend starting at $513 for classes, meals, and accommodations. It's taught by Sudha Carolyn Lundeen, a holistic RN who helps people discover their inherent wholeness.

Hey, if I discover my inherent wholeness, maybe that will do away with my focus on finding the next man in my life.

And if that doesn't pique my interest, Kripalu also offers rock climbing, yoga, and bodywork.

Also, in central Massachusetts is the Barre Buddhist Center, which specializes in meditative insight. According to their calendar, I could cultivate Inner Freedom and Nonreactivity with Michael and Naraya, just not on Labor Day weekend.

But the fact that a course like that existed gave me hope. Nonreactivity? That seems like a great way to managing encounters with the ex.

There is a Labor Day Ecstatic Chat at the Omega Institute for Holistic Studies in Rhinebeck, NY, which is open to the public on September 1. For $75 (plus transportation and accommodations, if needed), I can join Krishna Das, Deva Premal, Wah!, and Vishal Vaid for musical prayer and devotions from 2 pm to 2 am.

Twelve hours of musical devotions for $75? I could easily spend that much at home, just drinking and eating. That might take me out of my usual comfort zone. Perhaps I could use a real jolt in finding my inner bliss.

Putting myself in the middle of a group sing-along, with incense burning, and weird Indian drums banging seems pretty liberating from the usual routine.

A little later in the month (can you tell I'm starting to get excited) Omega is offering Women and Courage. The online catalog says, "It is time to change our definition of what it means to be a brave and daring human being." The leaders are Christine Northrup MD, author of Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom; the novelist Isabel Allende, and Elizabeth Lesser, the co-founder of Omega and the author of Broken Open: How Difficult Times Can Help Us Grow.

Wow, wow, and wow.

Finally, closer to home, is the Open Center on Spring Street. It doesn't have any activities on Labor Day weekend. But the fall schedule is intriguing, the prices are right, and so is the location.

Ok. The cell phone is ringing and I can see it's the kids checking in from vacation with their dad on Fire Island. I've gotta run for now.

One thing is sure. However I decide to embrace the last week of summer, it's going to be interesting.