If i can add one thing in, your eyes arnt that sensitive. and depending on if you have light pollution! other than that i think Jaq has covered it! Keep going and let us know how you went.
One more thing is do you keep observing records, theres a handy dandy little template on here so you know what you tried for and what you didn't, what was successful and what wasn't!
Being a engineering uni student i keep detailed records of everything of the night i observed, eg temp, seeing, conditions ect ect, that way i can come back at a later date and see if things have changed. its what we "amatures do" let the professionals know when something is happening!
hehehe
Brendan