OK, I had a chance to move the handlebars up quite a bit, and they feel much better, it's also easier to reach for the shifters.
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But I'm still not comfortable moving my hands under the bar to reach for the breaks. It feels really awkward and like I won't have enough time to break. And are all hoods standard size? I feel like my hand is too small to comfortable reach for breaks (no, I don't have freakishly small hands ;-)

I'm thinking it's just that I'm not familiar with using drops(I've only ever used flat bars) and hope it I will get used to them. I'm going for a longer ride this weekend, hopefully I won't end up getting totally frustrated and walking my bike...