Goal: Get to know my camera

I got this camera, a Canon G10, last christmas (not this past one the one before) and I don't feel that I know it as well as I could. So one of my goals this year is to not feel the need to replace this camera anytime soon and really get to know all the bells and whistles it has. I'm always looking to replace it with an SLR but I like the compactness of this one and for me I think the only thing that an SLR would do that I want is "blur the background" so now I need to figure how to do that with this camera and prove to myself that this is all I need. :)