Good advice Dave.
I'd also like to add, as I've stressed, get your camera manual or download it. You'll need it to understand how the various functions work on your camera and how to access them.
Also, and I can't stress this enough, go slow. Don't try to learn everything at once. Take a section and learn it, get comfortable with it, own it and let it become second nature to you.
The main reason people end up tossing their manuals in a drawer is because it's information overload and so much easier to put that camera on automatic.
That's what I'm doing. I bought a new camera a couple of weeks ago because my old one up and died. Even though I understand how to use most of the features I'm having to relearn where all the buttons are for making adjustments and learn about new features.
