PHP: Links PHP/MySQL Tutorial
Enjoy your PHP! It's worth it if you stick at it.
You may find that using WAMP on your local machine helps too:
Install PHP 5 Apache MySQL on Windows : WampServer
Saves uploading all your scripts, just run them off your local machine
I bought and learned loads from this book:
Amazon.com: PHP for the World Wide Web (Visual QuickStart Guide): Larry Ullman: Books
Good Luck!