i would have said that it would have been a fuel related problem as most hard starts are associated with, but i'm also inclined to think you're getting a "weak spark" as AwwsChwA put it...

now, u said you were not mechanically inclined? so let me make sure i get the symptoms correct...

the car will sit for more than a week... the 1st time u try to start it, it'll start... you'll drive the car... shut off the car... and when u try to restart the car, is the engine still hot? or did it sit for a few hours?

if u were trying to restart the car while the engine was still hot, and you had an ignition problem... say... some of the spark plugs aren't firing. the other spark plugs are firing, but it's not enough to get the car started, while the other cylinders are just pumping fuel out the cylinders since the spark plugs aren't igniting the air/fuel... once the fuel enters the HOT catalytic converter and is reintroduced with oxygen, it ignites and you get a "backfire"...

that may be quite a stretch, but it's consistant with what i think your symptoms are... if that were the case, it might be something as simple as the rotor, or expensive as a coil, module, cam/crank position sensor...