First of all...Never apologize for your Giant. Giant makes a great bike at a great price...I've owned 3.
You will do better than some folks on bikes that cost twice as much.
Comfort is everything. The more comfortable you are the faster you'll go. To that end, the only way to get comfortable riding...is to ride. Spend as much time on the bike as you can, learning how it moves and how you move it. Bikes are wonderful machines and the sad part is most people think all you do is hop on and pedal. They still think bikes are toys. Bikes are tools, and the more you use a tool the better you become at handling it. Ride often, even if it's just a quick noodle around the neighborhood.

Hi - just a couple of thoughts that you might find useful.

- Instead of concentrating on an up/down or a push/pull movement while pedaling, practice pushing forward over the top, pulling back at the bottom, and lifting the weight of your leg as it moves back up to the top during the backstroke. Efficient pedaling isn't really intuitive and this should be practiced.
-Looking back to check trafic - If you look left to look behind you, take your right hand slightly off of the bars. Its the pulling on the opposite arm as your shoulders rotate that can often cause a bike to unintentionally turn in the direction in which you are looking.
-Clipless pedals - My only suggestion is don't unclip both feet at the same time when stopping.

My advice if you have never used clipless. Practice in the grass if possible that way if you get excited and forget to pop your foot loose you will turtle on a soft surface rather than the pavement.

Ride it every single chance you get- even if its only for 15 minutes. Practice slipping and out while holding onto a wall or something. Get the concept down. If your pedals have a release tension adjustment, set it as light/ loose as you can. Nothing sucks more than alligator jaws holding onto your cleats. I turtled over my first time outside with my clipless. Didnt even make it off the sidewalk :D Its inevitable, just wear your helmet!

Yes I worked on it some today (the clippin in and out) along with some handling...hit the pavement twice, have a couple bruises and abrasions, but now I feel more like a triathlete! haha. I am definately going to be riding the bike as much as possible right now, just to get that feel for it...one other quick question in regards to the bike.

I understand the front cog (is that correct terminology?) as far as how to shift (big for downhills, mid for flats, small for inclines) but I am not as clear as how to use the rear (cassette?) as it relates to each of the gears on the big cog. I have heard that you should never be small small or big big, but I don't quite understand why.

Cross-chaining. Some people now say it's not longer an issue, though... but it still doesn't feel right. And in some combinations you might get clicking as the chain hits the chainring next to the one you're in.

jono