I totally feel your pain with what your going through Lorna.

I wanted to stay far away from CSS because the thought of having to totally change my way of doing designs was not very appealing. I gave CSS a chance and realized just how versatile I can make my websites now. It is much easier to create (I don't really memorize any of the tags or anything, I just have about 3 CSS books) and are better organized. I like to look at www.csszengarden.com for a pick me up when I don't think CSS is worth doing, it always reminds me that it really is the best way to go for many sites.