Do to my current contract, I am not at this time doing freelance websites for clients (although I could, if you are interested in what I can do for you please contact me using my contact link.). What should I learn now in case things change with the current employment situation?

It’s strategically smart to always be expanding one’s skill-set. Not only should it enhance your value to your present employer, you’re expanding your tools to increase your creativity. Further, your network should be growing with contacts of others that know of your abilities which should help your landing your feet on the ground if you are one of the unfortunate that are laid-off in difficult economic times.

ExpressionEngine®, Perch®

I am at a point with ExpressionEngine where I now feel comfortable. Although not super technically proficient I’ve done enough sites, interacted enough with their technical help that I have confidence to move forward with just about any project (this assumes my knowledge of XHTML & CSS). EE just plain ROCKS. Now though, comes CMS’s like Perch which raise the question - does the client just need a simple CMS or something more robust? Perch, initially at least, appears to be good for the non-blogging site. I have to qualify my opinion, I have not purchased a Perch license and am only going by what I’ve read on their site. Perch is recommended by some heavyweights in the CSS design field though.

WordPress®

Now WordPress® is a different animal… I need to know WP for those that want more of a blog rather than a site. There are seemingly enough themes out there (check out this rich resource at Nettuts Plus) that just about any need can be catered to.

So this appears to be an issue of not the virtue of one CMS or blogging platform over another but of something that I already have, yet only in rare quantity.

Time.