Joomla Website Tweeks

I have a Joomla site that needs a couple of edits. I know this is a simple job to the right person but I am reasonably new to Joomla.

1. The site has a blog page. I need the latest article from the category to display in the main area of the page. In the side module I require all the other articles in that category to be listed and linked, in date order, newest first, and minus the one in the main page. (A normal blog basically).

2. I have 3 Phoca Galleries. I have the images as thumbnails in the articles. I also want a text links in the articles to link to the first detail image of the gallery (ie as if you are clicking on the first thumbnail to then scroll through all the images). PS I want both the thumbnails and a text link to the gallery within the articles to let my client decide which he would like to use.

I do not want any of these edits done with any additional plugins (if possible).