Help Where did my notification bar go?

[mountainlover]

I've always had one along the top of my screen, but now it's gone. The green light keeps blinking but when I check there aren't any notifications. It's driving me crazy!! I'm having a couple of other issues too...sometimes it freezes for a little while and then starts working again. For instance, sometimes when I slide to unlock my phone, the bar moves most, but not all the way, then freezes for a (long) while, then unlocks. Other times I will have to tap on something several times before it will respond. It's getting frustrating. I plan to upgrade as soon as the phone I want comes out, but is there something I can do in the meantime?