When University of Hawai'i football practices began this month, it marked the end of one of my best summers ever.

At one of those practices recently, I was chatting with some of the sports guys, who informed me that some of my About Women columns gave the impression that I was a heartbroken single.

Enough.

Far from babying my "lonely" heart, this summer, for the first time in a long time, I had plenty of fun.

In the past, my summers were marked by either increased boredom or preparing for soccer — and for those of you who hate the world's greatest sport, those two things have nothing to do with each other.

Not this year. Summer 2007 meant dinners with friends and breakfasts with Grandma.

Meeting new people and hanging out with old pals.

I have a feeling that 10 years from now, I'll look back on this summer, and with a satisfied sigh, wear a cheesy grin on my face.

There were, of course, trips that helped place an exclamation point on all the fun.

I went to Kona with 30-plus relatives for my cousin's high school graduation.

And the best was Disney World for a week.

With the help of pals and co-workers Stanley, Liane and Loren, I discovered new places to go and different ways to have fun.

You know it's good when you have something to look forward to every weekend.

I've never been much of a partier, with my work schedule and inability to stay awake past 11 p.m. Instead of stressing about being single, though, I embraced it, and reaped the benefits of having the extra time to do what I wanted.

For example, I went to my first First Friday and met a lot of really great people.

I can tell by looking through the photos of the night that I was having a good time.

I still have the Gwen Stefani concert later this month, my 10th (!!!) reunion the next, and trips to Las Vegas in September and San Jose in October with the UH football team.

Sometimes, even though I've been out of school for a few years now, I still feel like I have summer vacation, because it gets much busier when schools and sports are in session.

This is the first time I truly took advantage of it.

Although late nights will mean something completely different now with the start of the sports year, I'm in one of those zones where it feels good to wake up knowing that each day is going to be good.

I'm excited about life and having a blast.

And I'm determined to extend this super summer into a terrific 2007.

Reach Leila Wai at lwai@honoluluadvertiser.com.