>Can anyone recommend a simple, cheap web site creation tool?

This list ought to get you started. These are some of the ones I've used or at least experimented with, in no particular order:

- HTML-Kit http://www.htmlkit.com/
- CoffeeCup HTML Editor http://www.coffeecup.com/html-editor/
- HomeSite 5.5 http://www.adobe.com/products/homesite/ (originally from Nick Bradbury, and one of the early popular favorites)
- AceHTML http://software.visicommedia.com/en/products/acehtmlfreeware/
- First Page 2006 http://www.evrsoft.com/

And of course there's Microsoft's newest, Expression Web, which is the replacement for FrontPage. It's more expensive than some of the others, but certainly worth taking a look at. http://www.microsoft.com/expression/products/retail.aspx?key=web

There are also sites where you can buy pre-built website templates, kind of like PowerPoint templates, that you can customize with your own content. I've got some links at the office I can post tomorrow, if you're interested let me know.

As for blogging, try blogger.com which is free and easy to use.

-Rick