Give the barends time, I was big time on the fence with mine - to the point where I had the shop getting me pricing on 105 and Ultegra brifters. Two months and over a thousand miles later, I'm absolutely smitten with them. I love the action, and love how great they are for control. My next build is (probably) going to be a Karate Monkey, and I plan to use barends with paul's thumbies on it.
With the hood braking, you can always have your LBS install some "cross" brake levers. They're great, and I'll probably throw on a set when I re-do my bar wrap later in the year. Cheap too, I think mine told me $20 installed for a set of cane creeks.
The stock saddle is yeah, not so great. In Surly's defense, most swap it out almost immediately. If it doesn't get better, well, you know what I'd suggest
Anyway congrats! Just be careful, they're addictive. I love riding mine, it gets better by the day.