I have the same problem as happynow.  When my AwesomeMod expired on the 27th I downloaded the latest version.  Upon entering the game however all my saved games were gone and I couldn't start a new game.  I couldn't even exit or open the options menu.  Nothing worked. 

I did however discover that if you make an external copy of your The Sims 3 folder (The one under Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 3) and then delete or rename the original and start the game up the game returns to factory settings and creates new folders.  You can then replace your original folders such as saves, custom music and options.ini from your copy. However - and I say this with a heavy heart - don't replace AwesomeMod or you're back to square one.  Your game will be back to the way it was before, but without AwesomeMod.