Today I decided to analyze my stock portfolio, something I hadn't done in at least a year. Here is the lowdown:

1. It has surpassed the high of October 2007;

2. It has grown 95% from the low of February 2008;

3. I rarely sell and it has been years since I bought;

4. My best performers in terms of gain vs. price paid are: AAPL, AMZN, PG, SBUX, WMT, ABT, HPQ;

5. The stocks I bought have outperformed the mutual funds I bought in terms of realized gain;

6. My portfolio consists of 90% stocks and 10% mutual funds (VFINX, SNXFX, and SWPPX);

7. I bought stocks based on using/liking a company's products, not because of some high-level analysis (I don't recommend this approach). But it's paid off, especially with stocks like AAPL that I bought for $6 a share and it split twice;

8. When I decide to invest in a stock, I buy between 100-500 shares;

9. Since I began investing, I've had an average annual gain of about 7% overall;

10. As much as I like personal finance, I just haven't been as interested in learning more about the stock market, but maybe I'll feel differently in a year or two.

I've always thought of my stocks as an asset I would leave my children, and not as funds to be used for retirement, but it's good to have this portfolio as a backup in case the need should arise. On the other hand, my retirement accounts (403b, IRAs, 457), some of which are invested in mutual funds, are entrusted to a professional to manage.

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In other news, we've been in Idaho for the last two weeks, enjoying some special times with my daughters and SILs. The weather's been fairly nice, colder than CA, but nothing unbearable. Life is very relaxed here.

Dh has a new hobby: photographing birds, so we've had fun going on walks to the nearby parks and wildlife preserves. Idaho has an abundance of wildlife and beautiful landscapes. Dh just spent a small fortune upgrading to a better camera. But he saved some $$: sales tax in Idaho is 6% vs. 9.25% in CA.

At week's end, we will be heading back to CA to spend Easter with friends and family. I'm looking forward to seeing my sister, niece, grandniece and grandnephew. The kids will have fun with their Easter egg hunt and we'll all enjoy a special brunch.

Then in mid-April, dh and I will head to Mexico for a few weeks to visit Mayan archeological sites in the states of Tabasco and Yucatan. While in Villhermosa, we will visit La Venta and Palenque; in Merida, we will focus on Uxmal and Chichen-Itza.