Week 1 - Waiting sucks, why not Compost!?

I learned very quickly that planting a vegetable garden is like a bad one-night stand.  You get so excited about what you're doing, then you do it, then it's over and you're left wondering "Did I do everything right?  Is it going to like me as much as I like it?" and then the next few days, "I need to check on it once more before I go to bed."  And the waiting continues.  During this period of waiting, I added to my journal a list of estimated harvest dates for everything I planted.  I added this list to the list of estimated germination dates for my seeds (which, I must say, are overachievers.  All of my seeds sprouted 1-3 days ahead of schedule.)I ordered, received, and began reading a book which was recommended from one of the gardening sites.  The book is called Fresh Food from Small Spaces by R.J. Ruppenthal and it is AMAZING.  It is geared toward people with city apartments or small backyards.  The author covers everything from inexpensive gardening to keeping chickens and bees to making your own yogurt and sprouts to composting.  This composting thing really had me intrigued.  My husband (again, the one who takes immediate action), ordered a compost bin from the city for $5. It showed up a few days later and that became my new project...for a day or two.
I used this site to help me set up the bin:
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_do_you_set_up_a_compost_bin_for_your_garden
We chose to put the bin next to the garden, hoping that it wouldn't smell and bother the neighbors.  Since we started working on it after the sun went down one night, we didn't notice that we'd placed it on a fire ant hill.  Bad mistake if you need to get to the bin each day but we just kept going. 
We started filling the bottom with sticks and twigs to help with aeration.  My two sons (14 and 7) were a big help.  Then we pruned a few trees and bushes and added the branches, some fallen oranges from our trees, and chicken poop (DO NOT ADD DOG OR CAT FECES).  Then a layer of dead leaves and newspaper, another layer of kitchen scraps and green yard waste, then topped it off with hay from the chicken coop, which was doubly good because it had chicken poop in it.  We finished off with a bucket of water over the top to get it going. 
After some later research, I read that red wiggler worms are great for breaking down the compost, so I ordered some from this site:
http://www.unclejimswormfarm.com/
They haven't arrived yet, so I'll update on this later. 
I also found a product called Compost Maker by Bonide.  The guy at the nursery said it helps speed up the compost time AND it's safe with worms.  It's made of ocean kelp, fish and alfalfa meals.  I sprinkled some on my compost but I'm not sure I'll know if it's working or not.  I think I'll stick to my worms once they arrive.
It's not sexy, but it's a hard worker!