Thank you all! That is exactly the empathy and reassurance that I needed from folks that, it appears, are in the same place as me, though most of you seem just up ahead.

Spent the weekend trying to learn to strum a few songs - Country Roads, Mama Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys and Every Rose Has Its Thorn. I felt pretty good at strumming all three (is it me, or do songs seem a lot longer when you first try learning how to strum them?).

I then attempted to sing along. LOL :-) and OMG, this is a LOT harder than "it at first appeared!" I can pass muster (not public viewing muster) with Country Roads and Mama, but I haven't been able to get through singing even the first two lines of Every Rose, I just can't get the timing right (yet). I was excited because I used my Capo for the first time and tried different settings until I found the key that worked with my voice; and then started to work on how to adjust my voice to fit the key of the song by singing "Do Re Mi" and "Joy To The World" along the major scale.

But then I was a little depressed because I tried to sing Country Roads and Mama with my kids and it didn't work out as well as I thought that it was going to work out. It now seems that it is going to take a really long time before I can get to a place where I can sing and strum in public. But you guys made me feel better.

My short term goal is to get a handful of "campfire songs" under my belt by mid-June (10 weeks) when we have our next summer campout. Any thoughts or suggestions? Is this too optimistic?