Hi again, Jim-
I just noticed another of your posts, the one about the logos; I don't know what your financial situation is, but thought I should mention that the totaltraining dvd can be a bit spendy. If it's not in your budget, don't despair, because the SAMS will give you most of your bang for your (much smaller) buck. In fact, I think that had I not already had the SAMS under my belt, the totaltraining might've seemed a bit overwhelming - it mostly reinforced what I'd already learned, and gave me a few new tips and shortcuts the SAMS didn't offer. I don't know what version of Illy you have (I have 10), but you might try going online and doing a price comparison for the SAMS book; often you can get them used for a fraction of the original cost.
By the way, yes, the pen tool can be a bear to learn, but once you get the hang of it, you will be head-over-heels in love, because it will allow you to do just about anything you want! Equally important will be to learn how to manipulate your anchor points - again, another tough lesson(s), but very essential and well-worth the effort.
-Eva