I think we're basically trying to do the same thing. My observations have not been recorded and have been rather haphazard. I plan to keep some notes, even sketches, however rough. I will try to use the observing log template provided on this site:
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/files.html
As far as seeing and transparency goes, it is a subjective judgment, but this site has a scale that is as good as any I've seen:
http://www.backyard-astro.com/Logs/logsreport.html
There is an article on these forums that has a good scale too:
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/63-196-0-0-1-0.html
Cheers, Paul.