I like the idea of keeping a record...
Here is something I stumbled across and was considering using...
It is "cheating a bit but looks pretty neat to me...
http://www.e-odonnell.com/myweb6/messierindex.htm
(a live link sorry)
He has set up the whole Messier List in PDF format using the Telrad finder format...ie the circles are on the sky map to show what you should see in the sky to see the object...there is also a bit of information about the object as well as a place to record your information make a sketch and comments...