I am so happy for you and especially for your new lil' kitty! My roommate and I adopted a 3 year old female from a local shelter and she is the highlight of our lives. Cats are such interesting creatures! All of the advice is great, so I dont' think I could add any more.
Except...at Wal-Mart they have this thing called the "super scratcher" and it is a cardboard box thingy w/ cat nip in it. All of my 3 cats and now miss daisy love these boxes and it gives them a nice "high" when they scratch so its kinda of an award.
GOOD LUCK!!!!!