So here’s what happened.  Our computer had issues and we needed to reinstall the operating system.  I use(d) a program called iWeb to do my blogging, and I accessed all the administrative options through their software (offline).  Before we started rebuilding our computer from scratch, I checked to make sure that all my blog files were saved off site, and they were.  So we proceeded.  However, we discovered upon installing the new OS that I could not figure out how to get all those old blog files back into the iWeb software.  I called customer service and an “Apple expert” tried to walk me through my issues.  He kept telling me to look for a file called “domain” which I couldn’t find anywhere among the blog files I’d backed up.  Apparently it is essential in order to connect the blog data to the blog software.  I now quote the last three lines of our phone call:

“So, just to clarify… If we did not back up some folder called “Library” that has a file in it named “Domain,” and if we were not running the Time Machine program while we backed up our files… I’m screwed?”

“Yah, pretty much.”

(long pause.)

“Okaaaay.  Um, well, thanks for your help.”

I have created a photo montage for you to help you see what my hours at the computer were like today:

So basically, the old blog has vanished into a black hole of adminstratorless web logs and has been stamped “failed to thrive.”  The good news is that by the end of the day, I finally figured out that I could go into all those files that I backed up and at least save them all on my hard drive as .html files.  So while they are no longer accessible on the internet, I DID figure out a way to recover and store all my post content without cutting and pasting for three weeks.

Unfortunately, however, this whole process of discovery and recovery was long and painful.  When Matt got home (thank goodness no class tonight!), I told him to go easy on me because I had suffered mild depression while mourning my loss.  When I finally got out of my desk chair and explored the house, this is what I found:

And that is why, despite my normally super-frugal tendencies, I gave Matt a $30 budget and told him to please take the kids to Sonic and get dinner.  Things are mostly better now.

The RSS feed for this blog is probably different now, so if you subscribed in the past through Google Reader, RSS, your list of blogs you “follow,” or your sidebar blogroll, then you’ll probably need to add it again from scratch.  Sorry.  Thanks for coming back, though.  Thanks a lot.  I feel so sad that this whole thing may cause some blog-reading friends to fall through the cracks.  And I just realized that although I found my posts, I did lose all of the comments that were ever made.  Sigh.

Alright then, back in the saddle, I guess.

Does anyone out there know enough about WordPress to tell me how I make a little RSS button so that people can subscribe to this feed?  Maybe it’s automatic and I’m missing it.  Plus I do NOT understand how to add a photo to my sidebar despite reading all the instructions on FAQ.  This is all going to take some getting used to for me.

P.S.  Oh, next week I plan to transfer this blog to my own domain, which is at http://www.diapersanddivinity.com , but right now I’m leaving it up as is to try to direct old readers this way.  What a mess.  So sorry.