I have officially thrown in the towel on attempting to get the look I want on my own. Hired someone local today to get the look I want on my website.
I "wasted" 4 hours playing with the site when I could have been doing more productive things. My lawn business has me far too busy these days to sit on the keyboard and pull my hair out (not having much left in the first place!!)
I should have a nice working theme in a week or so. I will post back when it is finished.
Some of the suggestions here will be incorporated into the new design.