Five for Friday: Things I Want to Learn

I recently had a friend ask me to help her with her child's first birthday party cake.  I was under the impression she wanted a cupcake tower...and I'm good at that.  I'm no professional, but I can hold my own.  Well, she then told me that she wanted a cake.  Just a flat cake.  And I can't do that.  I can't, for the life of me, neatly ice a flat cake with a knife.  I've tried.  Boy, have I tried.  And I just CAN'T do it!

I've decided that over the course of the next year that I will learn how to ice a flat cake and make it look professional.  And here is the list of things I want to learn:

1. How to properly and neatly ice a flat cake with an icing knife.  See above rant.
2. How to start our lawn mower.  I know, I know.  "That stupid girl!!  She can't even start a lawn mower!"  Don't judge me.  My husband very reliably mows our lawn every week and never asks me for help.  One week I offered to do it for him and he wouldn't have it.  I thought to myself, "I'll just go out there and start when you aren't looking."  And then it occurred to me that I don't even know how to start the damn thing.
3. How to use/read a compass.  I was never a boy scout.  Or a girl scout, for that matter.  I have been taught how to read a compass atleast 11 times, but I don't remember.  One of those times was only a couple of years ago, but I was about 6 cocktails in by that time.  So I definitely don't remember that time.
4. How to prune plants.  I decided to plant flowers this year.  They looked so pretty for about a month and now they're all going through their first "dying off and growing new" phase.  They look pretty bad and could use some attention.  But I don't know if I should just leave them alone or cut them with scissors (as my aunt who is a gardener does) or just pluck or pull off the dead stuff with my hands.  Maybe the interwebs would be a good source of information about this matter.
5. How to make my dog STOP REPEATEDLY WAKING ME UP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT FOR STUPID SHIT.  Stupid shit as in wanting to go outside to smell the air.  Or to just look at me.  Last night he woke me up 5 or 6 times for mostly nothing.  I think the answer to this one is to make him an outdoor dog.  But then he'd just stand out there and bark all night.

What are y'all learning these days??