Are You Ever Amazed by Yourself?

Firstly, is that title grammatically correct? It doesn't sound quite right but I can't find another way of expressing what I want to say: on Tuesday I did something and was totally amazed at my achievement.

I am talking here about a positive sort of amazement: not the self-deprecating, self-loathing, embarrassment kind of amazement that many of us suffer from.

It all started with Isla's boring bedroom. Isla's room, like the rest of the house, had plain cream walls. You may remember the pragmatic approach that Ken and I adopted to house decorating when we purchased this place: remove all wallpaper, repair walls, paint them all in a cheap neutral cream and add colour later. Isla didn't even have a light shade.

Most of the rooms look fine but Isla's looked drab. Until Tuesday. This is what it looks like now.

Since you may not have seen Isla's room, her room is not really low. The bed is a midsleeper and has a den underneath which you can't see in the picture. Just wanted you to know.

So why the amazement?
Six reasons really
1) I had the idea (largely inspired by a picture in a magazine, but lets face it, I was inspired and that is amazing enough for me.)
2) I managed to find the materials easily and was prepared to do the job while the creativity still had momentum.
3) I got off my bottom at a time of year when I am frequently very demotivated and actually did the job.
4) It looks far better than I could have expected particularly as I have never wallpapered before.
5) The job is finished. Really finished. Not half done or even mostly done with a "All it needs me to do is..." qualifier.
6) The entire overhaul including wallpaper paste and light shade cost me one afternoon's work (really, from start to finish), some scrapbook paper offcuts and £18.50.

Good eh?

The acquiring of the brown leather effect, £35.99 per roll wallpaper: "Excuse me (To shop assistant) Can I purchase one of those rolls of wallpaper (indicating one of four rolls opened for samples)?" "Not really. We are not allowed to sell them." "That's a shame. I only want a small amount and not an entire roll." "What do you want to do with it?" "Make a tree on my daughter's bedroom wall." "Oh, so you want a sample then. Will this be enough? (Unrolls a generous arm's length and hands it to me) Looks thoughtful You may need some more branches. Would your daughter like a large sample as well? (Unrolls another arm's length) But, you have to understand, this is a sample." Smiles and walks away.

Vicki, if you look closely, all these letters are decorated with stamp sets you gave me. Thank you! Each letter has a seasonal theme.

I am still in disbelief.