I was the same way, Richard. I dearly loved my XP and still have it for the same reason you do. But now it looks and feels old and clunky when I boot it up... never thought I'd feel that way.
Have you discovered how to put any number of wonderful pictures on your desktop? Right click and select Personalize. There are a few good ones already there, but if you click on Get More Themes Online, there are hundreds of them - I'm using one called Milky Way right now, but will soon be switching to a Halloween one.