Not sure about that last question, but for the others, go to www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com and look at her short video on how to make milk kefir - her videos are very good.
Just milk, it's super simple--my kids regularly make kefir smoothies after school. They spoon out the grains and plop them into a clean jar, pour milk over, pop the lid back on and pop the jar back into the cupboard where we keep our drinking glasses. We use a clean jar each day and we use organic homogenized whole milk from the fridge.
Yep, kefir is the most simple fermented food I make. It takes very little effort and isn't all that picky about different types of milk either, although I think it does need some fat, so make sure not to use skim etc... (I've even used heavy cream before and it turns out like custard!)
It takes no electricity however the warmer your house the faster it works. On cold days it takes a bit longer, like every two days. If you need a break from making it, just put it into some milk and leave it in the fridge covered. It will be fine for up to a month, in my experience...maybe even longer.
I would get it into some milk asap by now though, if you haven't already.
It will live, don't worry. Just won't thrive as well in skim. I seem to think someone here used skim in a pinch for a while... Kefir grains are very hardy. I've frozen some and dehydrated others and they handle it very well.