floating problems...

[gogogadgetearl]

i'm currently rewriting my site for xhtml 1.1, and i've decided to give the xhtml some definition (e.g. don't use divs for everything...if it's a paragraph, make it a p, if it's a header, make it h1 and so on).

i've got a page that basically follows this order:
-header (h1)
-4 main menu blocks (div-ul-li-a)
-firefox plug (h3)
-main content container (div)
----... (small bit of irrelevant content)
----google adsense block (p)
----entry container (div)
-------entries (div-h4-ul-li)
----end entry container (/div)
-end main content container (/div)
-4 less-relevant menu blocks (div-ul-li-a)
-footer (hr-p)

if that's confusing to you, check out the source code here: http://www.gogogadgetearl.com/working/

anywho, i css'd the 4 top menu blocks and the firefox plug to clear:right and float:right. they look great.

problem #1: when i tried to get the adsense block to float:right within the main content container, it hangs down even with the firefox plug - even though it's in a separate container. i've tried clear:none on the adsense block - but to no avail. i've even tried to make the main content container to float:left - still no go. i thought it might be the fact that i'm using ah h3 tag for the firefox plug, but i changed the tag to a div, and that didn't work, either. then i thought it might be the image replacement trick courtesy douglas bowman: http://www.stopdesign.com/articles/css/replace-text/ -- but even after removing the firefox plug from the xhtml altogether, the adsense aligns with the bottom-most block of the top menu blocks.

problem #2: i was hoping that i could get the bottom 4 menu blocks to float:right, and have them meet up with with the top 4 menu blocks, since all 8 are in the same container (the body tag). however the bottom menu blocks are hanging down below the main content container - even when i have them set to clear:none. I even tried to set the main content to a ridiculously small width, but they still hang at the bottom on the right.

basically, i want my xhtml 1.1 'working page' (http://www.gogogadgetearl.com/working/) to look and act like my current page: http://www.gogogadgetearl.com/

==stipulations==
-i'd like to stick to css only. html hacks - e.g. (div class="spacer") (/div) - are messy and they defeat the purpose of separating content from display -- which is the full purpose of xhtml+css. besides, pure css suits my semi-obsessive-compulsiveness. ;-)
-i'd also like to avoid using absolute positioning. i tried that with the adsense block, and my text didn't wrap around it, the adsense block actually covered the text. that won't do (unless you can find a way to get my text to wrap around an absolutely-positioned element).

==source code==
working xhtml (veiw source) - http://www.gogogadgetearl.com/working/
working css - http://www.gogogadgetearl.com/workin...sic_common.css
current xhtml (veiw source) - http://www.gogogadgetearl.com/
current css - http://www.gogogadgetearl.com/css/default_common.css
if you need to see any of my other referenced stylesheets, you should know where to look for them. ;-)


a HUGE thank-you to anybody willing to help me!!