I have learned:
* what a correct exposure is
* what aperture is, where to find it, what it does, and how to change it
* what shutter speed is, how it is related to aperture and ISO (oh, yeah, I learned what the heck that is too!) , where to find it, and how to change it
* how to do that “isolated subject” thing
* how to use my Manual Setting!! Yay!
Here’s a practice photo with an aperture f/5.6 and shutter speed of 1/25th second
And the same shot, with an aperture of f/22 and a shutter speed of 1.6 sec.
And who knew that the smaller the f/ number, the bigger the opening? And that changing one thing necessitates changing another??? Crazy I tell ya! No wonder I’ve been clueless for so long!
So cool!
A Half Hour a Day 
I keep trying to keep that stuff straight in my head, but I think its kinda like foreign languages – if you don’t use it, you lose it. All too often I’m willing to let “Auto” or the “scene selection” buttons do most of my work.
JUST USE THE AUTOMATIC SETTING (Like Me).