request: wordpress learning resources & hello

Hey all, I have been reading MacRumors for a long time but am new to the forums.

Anyway I am building a freelance web design business and have had a few clients so its off to a decent start. Up until now I mainly would handle all the design aspects as well as creating the static template. I tend to target small businesses so they NEED a CMS because they really don't have a dedicated "tech" person on staff. I have dabbled in wordpress but I am not even close to offering it as a service yet.

I enjoy reading and collecting learning material on anything related to web design and even other areas of design.

Can anyone recommend (from actual experience) some useful resources to learn wordpress development, specifically taking a static template (html/css/jquery) to a functional theme?