XHTML: A New Skill or New Thrill?

I have decided to learn website design. 

As some of you know, I'm a big idea person. I have about a billion ideas a day and my wife patiently listens to them. Often times these ideas are quit involved and would require lots of time, effort, and money. Usually retail food based.

Sometimes I have ideas for websites... But, still don't have much time or money. So I decided to learn XHTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, and MySQL to...

• Save money by building the sites myself.
• If I did ever pay money to have a site built, I would have a better understanding of what I could expect. 
• Possibly have a new career path if I discover I have Talent for it. (Which does not look likely so far..)
• Add another tool to the toolbox. I may not apply for a job where this is necessary knowledge but, sometimes people are impressed when someone knows things they don't. It's like saying you can speak 3 different languages even when it's not necessary to the job.

So I have done two things to teach myself. I have purchased a book called XHTML and CSS for dummies. I have also subscribed to a website called lynda.com. Both have been effective in helping me understand how little I know about the web and how hard web development is.

Learning XHTML is extremely tough for me and the learning curve does seem quit steep but, I have hope. I'm not going to school for it and am teaching myself. While I can't make a magical site, I can make one, and thats light years ahead of where I was. I'm still interested in it and I'm learning, so at this point, I'm still happily engaged.

Part of me feels like I'll never get it and should give up. I wonder, if I'm not blissfully passionate about web design, should I even bother to keep learning about it? Then again, my personality type, I'm not really passionate about anything besides eating and reading..

So it may be a passing fancy or it could be something really great, it's just too early to tell.

What do you think? Should I keep pursuing it or not waste valuable time on it?