Mac Notes won't connect to iCloud; system preferences crash despite fixes tried

Question

I am on 10.8.5, have not updated to Mavericks yet. My Mac for notes doesn't want to connect to iCloud so that my notes will sync between all devices.
I have tried all of the solutions that seemed to work for others, like deleting cache, rebooting, making sure all devices are set to iCloud, typing a new note. I think I remember telling iCloud not to sync notes many years ago but now I do want it to sync and it won't allow.
Here is the error message I get when I click on 'notes' after going to accounts/icloud.
Process:         System Preferences [345]
Path:            /Applications/System Preferences.app/Contents/MacOS/System Preferences
Identifier:      com.apple.systempreferences
Version:         12.0 (12.0)
Build Info:      SystemPrefsApp-232001000000000~1
Code Type:       X86-64 (Native)
Parent Process:  launchd [143]
User ID:         501
Date/Time:       2014-08-17 15:44:30.673 -0400
OS Version:      Mac OS X 10.8.5 (12F45)
Report Version:  10

Answer 1

Sorry, did not post enough of the error message, repeated here:
Process:         System Preferences [345]
Path:            /Applications/System Preferences.app/Contents/MacOS/System Preferences
Identifier:      com.apple.systempreferences
Version:         12.0 (12.0)
Build Info:      SystemPrefsApp-232001000000000~1
Code Type:       X86-64 (Native)
Parent Process:  launchd [143]
User ID:         501
Date/Time:       2014-08-17 15:44:30.673 -0400
OS Version:      Mac OS X 10.8.5 (12F45)
Report Version:  10
Interval Since Last Report:          -456942 sec
Crashes Since Last Report:           -282
Per-App Interval Since Last Report:  181 sec
Per-App Crashes Since Last Report:   13
Crashed Thread:  3  +[Library _mergeRestoreMessageLibraryIDsToUpdate:]  Dispatch queue: com.apple.root.default-overcommit-priority
Exception Type:  EXC_CRASH (SIGABRT)
Exception Codes: 0x0000000000000000, 0x0000000000000000
Application Specific Information:
com.apple.preferences.internetaccounts v.220 (Mail, Contacts & Calendars)
objc[345]: GC: forcing GC OFF because OBJC_DISABLE_GC is set
*** Terminating app due to uncaught exception 'MFSQLiteException', reason: 'checking for existence of object'
Performing @selector(enableServicePressed:) from sender NSButton 0x7fd9f4725a10
terminate called throwing an exception
abort() called
Application Specific Backtrace 1:
0   CoreFoundation                      0x00007fff91b54b06 __exceptionPreprocess + 198
1   libobjc.A.dylib                     0x00007fff8d9663f0 objc_exception_throw + 43
2   Message                             0x00007fff91814e3f sqliteObjectExists + 388
3   Message                             0x00007fff91766c42 databaseIsEmpty + 34
4   Message                             0x00007fff9168ec4b +[Library executeBlock:isWriter:useT