I have found some articles about fast charging vs. battery life through links posted here and my own googling and I have gotten some very good information out of them so thanks for those links.

Fast charging is not really necessary for my application, the device can be plugged into the wall and can stay there until it is fully charged OR it can be used from the plug itself so if it takes a while to charge the battery it is not the end of the world, I just wanted to get some suggestions on how to charge the battery other than the simple resistor/diode pair.

I probably will go ahead and buy the maxim chip and "do it right" as Erik says.

I went with the lead-acid battery because that is basically what was on hand at the time the decision was made. This prototype is being built on a shoestring budget so often times, I have had to invent my own solutions rather than go with the easy "buy a chip" solution. It has been a learning experience (which is exactly the point of a thesis project).