Welcome to the tutorial c1sissy!
For your menus, have a look at
http://www.projectseven.com/tutorial...menus/list_01/
where the build up of both vertical and horizontal menus is very well described.
Why I am so enthusiastic about this project of our own, is that all CSS fanatics say you shouldn't use tables for layout purposes, but they don't provide much in the way of how to structure it correctly, and what the up and downsides are of the various options you have with doing it in CSS.
And like you, I am no 'pro' web designer. So hopefully our learning curve will be steep and fun.