these divs will float side by side to create columns. This is div 1 with a little text to give it some height. Also you will note that this is not centered on the page and that it is only 450px in width.
this is div 2 with a little less text so it's a different height than the other two... Also note the font sizing in the container and the bottom footer. I have used a .9em in the contentarea and a .8em in the footer area. You can also see that as I add text to this section of the container area, the box streches down, and also pushes the footer down so that its not overlapping the footer.
The objective is that no matter which of the three divs is the longest, the footer sits below it...

The lesson behind this page was to show you how to float 3 columns side by side under the header and to have the footer run across the bottom of the page.

Also as you can see, I have included a second footer under the first. So you can put additional sections under the original footer, use the styles that you have for placement, and you can add a few different areas. Also here I have included a text indentation so that you can see how this works.