Since my last post, I've been able to find quite a few themes that do what I want. The trick is in finding a non-ugly theme (90% are that way) with the right home screen. After that, I can customize the background to my liking and the rest if history. Lately I've really been into a home screen with bottom buttons and messages/calendar section.
Here's the one I'm currently using. Shows more than two for calendar and messages.
Free 8300 Theme - BlackBerry Forums at CrackBerry.com
I wasn't a fan of the color red, so I just changed the background to something less obvious.
EDIT: Yes, I realize it's the same link as my first post. Not sure why I didn't see more than two before. Perhaps the author has updated it since that time.