Well I've stumbled upon half of an answer. I started all over last night with the full EC09 tar and then I installed Ciscogee's deodexed .zip file. Set a few things up, installed Trailblazer's mod and backed up the rom. And I had the same problem. Restoring the phone immediately led to the boot up problem.
However, I rebooted right back into recovery and installed Trailblazer's .zip file on top of the backup I had just restored....and for the first time ever, I got past the booting issue!
Unfortunately, I tried that trick on previous backups I had made with his mod installed, and that trick did nothing....still observed the 2) problem from the post above.
It only worked with the Ciscogee deodexed Rom......previously I had installed Pattielip's debinged, debloated. I've never successfuly recovered one of those Roms with TB's mod installed....and oftentimes was not even able to get his mod to work in the first place.