Just remember we've all been there Jayson. Since it appears that you are quite the newbie, I would recommend the "Dummies" book. I have several of them and they are quite good at explaining things in a way that you'll remember them.
They said on their website that some of the extensions won't work until the extension creators get their work caught up to the new version. I tho't it strange, but haven't had any issues with the new version thus far.
Precisely what I used to get the wife her Anniversary (Nov 18), birthday (Nov 28), and Christmast (Dec 25) presents...jewelry and a new Ford Escape!
Plus a little left over to buy me a few things too, of course!
There are sites that will encode your email address into encrypted JavaScript code. The one I use is found here. The sites that I've used this one haven't gotten one spam message yet (knock on wood).