poor steve
hi demise,
its great that yuo had no problems finding the moon. now on the eyepieces is a number in milimeters (eg 7mm or 20mm), the smaller the number the more it magnifies. now thats eyepieces covered (more or less), have you aligned the finder scope to the telescope so they both point to the same piece of sky? you will need to do this so kyou can find things. please tell us what desing your telescope is so we can help with this
star maps or a star atlas will help you find your way arnound the sky so get one
oh! and what sort of mount does your telescope have? if its what they call an equatiorial mount then you need to align it to the celestial south pole, so tell us what sort of mount you have so we can help with that too
as for an absolute beginners guide to observing, i can recommend you go to your local public library, i am sure they will have books there on what to look for and how to do it
please ask more questions