Hi Songbird,
Like you I don't have friends/family interested in looking upwards! And the IceInSpace forums have been great, people here are so friendly and knowledgeable
My binoculars were a pair of 10x50 Celestron "UpClose" for $49 from Andrews (someone posted the link below) and they are great
I believe they are still the same price! I have a telescope now so I don't use them as often as I used to but you just can't go past a pair of binoculars to keep you occupied!
Chelle