Welcome .
I too felt like I got in over my head and thought Why did I do this? as if I don't have enough to do already. One day a few weeks into it and lots of reading on this forum, it just clicked, but for me , it is still a learning experience when it comes to everything else involved, more than just the water condition tests. Soon you will be able to test and treat the pool water in a matter of minutes, with a good test kit. Then at some point you will be behind someone at Wal-Mart buying test strips and loads of pool chems and think to yourself Why?