Blogger Layout Changes Suck

I sooo want to change my blog layout--can't afford for anyone to do it for me--but I hate that everytime I do I lose my blog list. Does anyone understand how bad this ticks me off? I spent all morning yesterday reentering everyone's information to my list, but today I was going to outsmart blogger. I copied my current html code before I posted the new one. Little did I know that the new one wouldn't work at all. I mean there wasn't even a blog anymore. So I attempted to paste my old one. Guess what? It wouldn't work either and although i saved all the information and reposted it all, it still deleted my bloglist. I hate this crap! Now I'll have to spend another few hours recreating the list. This sucks! Please forgive me if I don't comment you for the next day or two while I diligently work to restore this chaos. Thanks!