My purse was stolen! D-;
 

*sigh* I just feel like I can't win! I went to a park today with my dad and sister, hoping we'll see some bald eagles. We were equipped with cameras and binoculars. Saw some osprey and a number of other birds, but no eagles. Oh well. But at getting back to the car, we see the passenger side window had been busted out and my purse, which was on the floor between the drivers seat and passenger seat, was gone! :'( My license, my debit card, my social security card, my birth certificate, my checks- all gone. My car keys, my apartment key, my mailbox key, my work key, my antique skeleton key, my copy for my parents' house- all gone. My cell phone and my Foster's phone charms- gone. I am FREAKING OUT!! I've never had this happen to me before! And now I have all these things to replace, and I don't even know where to begin. I've already canceled my debit card, but I can't do anything about my checks until Monday. I can't get new keys for my car or apartment until Monday, either. I can't go in to apply for a new license until Monday. So tomorrow (Sunday), I'm just going to be filling out a police report, and then sitting at my parents place feeling helpless and terrified. And then Monday will be crazy busy. I've called into work for tomorrow, I know I'll be in no condition to work with how much stress I'm right now. I've never handled stress very well, and I'm not going to risk working 8 1/2 hours on one of the busiest and most stressful day of the week for us.

I'm trying hard to count my blessings. Joey, my cat, is just fine. He's here at my parent's place with me. My computer is fine. So far, everything at my apartment is fine (although they have my apt key and my address on my license so they could go over there and clean me out as long as I'm at my folks place :macwor:). My camera is fine. And although it's useless without a key (I didn't even have a spare), my car is also fine. And of course my whole family is fine, no one's hurt. It's just my mom's van's window needs replacing.

Ugh, what a pain! I would appreciate support and for those who do so, prayers, until I can sort all this out and get back on my feet. This is all so scary! :cry2:

Oh, man, that really sucks big-time. I'm sorry; I wish there was something I could do. You know you have my full support and I'm here if you need to talk or just scream. You'll get through it though, you're stronger than you think, and I know you won't roll over and let the bottom-feeder criminals change your life. I think I can speak for everyone here when I say we're all behind you 100%. I know I am, and you'll be in my thoughts. :frankiesmile:

Thank you so much Cass, it means a lot, it really does. You've already done so much, and just so you know, I'm not for the LIFE of me going to let this affect my summer plans. Grrrrr!!!! *growling defensively at the situation*

I'll keep you guys updated with the progress I make at getting back on my feet.

Damg! :( Horrible news. We support you all the way. Keep us updated.

Thank you Ord. *hugs*

My mom just got home from work, first time she's seen the van. She's not happy, as I can certainly understand. She looked through the van as soon as she got home to see if anything else is missing. Had a bit of a fright, as it looked like they got her GPS unit, too, but after feverishly looking for it, they found it safe in the glove compartment. *whew!* I just wish my purse had been stuffed in there, too. :bloosad:

It's going to be all right. Just take it one day at time.

:herriman: Definitely keep a close watch on your bank statements for now if the thief has your SSN.

Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry to hear that Lynnie. :bloosad: I had my house broken into several years ago (they didn't really take much, just made a huge bloody mess of the place), so I know how much it sucks to have a complete stranger intrude upon your life like that. I'm willing to wager that the slimeball who took your purse was an opportunist thief, and probably far too lazy and gutless to plan and orchestrate a full-scale burglary upon your property, but I can understand your concern on the matter, and I do hope that things will get back on track for you soon. Until then, take all the precautions that are necessary, and you know that we'll be right here for you, to offer our love and support all the way. :frankiesmile:

I'll echo everyone's thoughts and say sorry to hear about your loss.

And I agree with that L.G said and just take things slowly until you can get your affair back in order.

And lastly I hope those stupid purse snatchers will one day get what's coming to them.

Thank you all so much for your comments and support. Much love. :)

I'm still not ok, but I'll be again eventually. I learned this morning that I can apply for both a new SSN card and license online, which does make things easier, less phone calls to make and less places to stop by. I plan to call my apartment complex later this morning and ask if the locks on my door can be replaced asap. And later today we're going back to the city where it happened (which is an hour away from where I am now, ugh, my parents live way out in the boondocks) and meet with the police and fill out a report. Hopefully tomorrow, once everything is open again, I'll check with my bank and see if it will be a good idea to close my account and transfer the funds (if the scum didn't wipe it out before I got to canceling my debit card last night) into a new one. We can also check with the local Dodge dealership and see if we can get a new key for my car.

What's worrying me so much is the cost of everything. I have no method of paying right now anyway, but I don't want my parents to dig themselves in a hole by dealing with all this. And what if it's so much even they can't take care of it right now? We're all suffering a bit financially right now.

And then there's the issue of my ssn and even my birth certificate having been in my purse. I am sooo kicking myself for having them in there now, not smart. The thing is, I've moved so many times in the last decade, and they are needed to get a new license among other things, so I finally decided to keep them in my purse so I'll always know where they are, so I don't have to "dig them up" after the turmoil of a stressful move. My birth certificate would appear as an old, stained and slightly torn piece of paper, tucked in one of the pockets of my purse, so it's likely they didn't even see it. But yeah, SSN, ugh. My credit is less then perfect as many of you know already, due to student loans, but they can still do some damage with that. I'll definitely be keeping a CLOSE eye on things for a while.

Again all your support is very much appreciated. It does lighten this load a bit.

Jeez, that really sucks. I'm so sorry that this had to happen to you.:( I couldn't possibly imagine having to deal with all that crap. Of course you'll be in my thoughts and prayers, an I really, really, truly hope this all works out in the end. I know it will.:)

:'( I'm really sorry. I was mugged in college by a bunch of kids -who were very polite; that was almost the worst part - in college. So I've had to go through all that stuff getting replacements for everything and having locks changed etc. In the very long run the thing whose loss was the worst was a tape I had made by taping songs off the of the radio. I was never able to track down some of those songs again, not knowing the artists and/or song titles. I know that might sound dumb but I was able to replace everything else.

Aw, thanks so much for the replies IL and Sparky. Now that the day is over, I do feel a bit better. My dad and I took the van back to the city where the incident happened so the city police could write up a report. We were waiting 2 and a half hours for a cop to come! It was very tiring, once we got tired of sitting, we paced around the outside of the van, and then I konked out in the back seat (I hardly slept at all last night, as I'm sure you can imagine). The officer finally came, turned out they thought they were suppose to meet us at the park where the crime occurred. That wasn't necessary so we parked at the local mall because we knew they'd be able to find us easily. It was just yet another misunderstanding. The officer was actually very nice. He wrote up a report quickly for my dad so he could have the insurance take care of it. And then the officer asked me a whole bunch of questions about what was in my purse. And he gave us a claim number so we have a police claim number to give to our insurance companies or banks, or anything really that might need it for legal purposes.

After the officer left, we went to the mall and my dad got me a new cell phone. It's more expensive than my old one was, ugh. But it's cool because this one is so much nicer than my other one was. It has a camera, my other one didn't. ;) And it's on Verizon, and since most people I call/text use the same carrier, contacting them would be free. So, I'm not exactly sure how the plan works, but we'll see, it might not be as much as my other one was. So, I at least have one thing replaced now. So I'm on the road to recovery.

I plan to start the process of getting a new license and SSN card online this evening, and tomorrow we're off to get a new car key, a new apartment key, and order a new debit card (and change bank accounts if they advise that).

And Sparky, oh no no no no no, that's certainly not dumb about the tape! :o I use to do the same exact thing, no lie! I still have most of them, most recorded between Jr. High and college, so I have some songs going back to the '80s. And during college I even organized a bunch of the songs onto different tapes and labeled them according to the time in my life those certain songs remind me of. I don't listen to them too often anymore, but it's pure nostalgia when I do, I still love it. :D

Am sorry to hear about your purse.

At least your new phone works nicely.

Thank you FHF. And yes it does. I just hope it doesn't end up costing me an arm and a leg. I'm struggling enough right now as it is.

My mom took some pictures of the damage to her van this morning, thought I'd share them.

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/a...n/WorstDay.jpg

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/a.../WorstDay2.jpg

There had been a lot of glass on the pavement, too. There were originally shards of glass still poking into the window cavity, but they eventually broke off completely while driving down the road. So this isn't actually what it looked like when we first found it.

Oh, man, I'm really sorry, Lynnie. How very suckish. :sadbendy:

(Hugs) :)

OMG!! I can't believe it. We're all gonna support you on this and help you get through. And hope you don't mind me asking but has the police caught the thief yet? If there's anything I can do you can PM me, I'm always here for you?

Thanks you guys. Much love. :)

Doing better today, I'm gradually getting my foot hold again. Got new car keys today (this time I got two, so I have a spare). Still no apartment key or mailbox key, ugh, I'm irritated with the people over there right now. They just aren't sticking to the office hours, and it's a great inconvenience. I'll try again tomorrow. But my mom had my spare apt key, so I have that at least. Went to the bank, closed my account and opened a new one. New debit card and wallet (sold by the bank) are on the way. Printed out my temp license, and the permanent is on its way. Got a little use out of my cell phone again today too. And now that I have a car key, I go into work again tomorrow. So I'll get back into the routine. I'm still wondering what to do with my other job and the key I needed for that. The guy who's responsibility it is to get me one is dealing with big and very sad funeral plans right now, and I reeeaaallly don't want to bother him until next week when it's over. But I need to do my other job this week, I NEED that money! My dad has a key and we have somewhat plans as to when and where I can pick it up, if it all works out on Thursday like we planned. :P

Van window is fixed, too. :)

I do have that Foster's purse that I shared pics of here a few months back (in the "More Stuff at Hot Topic" thread I believe), it's just it's huge compared to my old one and I have absolutely NOTHING to put in it, except maybe a bottle of lotion, nail clippers and my phone. I'm also wanting to alter it a little bit, as my old purse had so many pockets and pen loops and little extras. It'll keep my new purse so much more organized and "handy" if I can add some pockets and pen loops. I'm just trying to figure out what material to do it with, and need a snap or two. My mother has plenty of supplies like that here, so I need to remember to find something before I leave their place tonight.

So yeah, things are coming along. I'll keep you guys updated. Thank you all so much for the support and your friendship through all this, it has NOT been a good weekend for me in the least. But it's starting to get better. :smed:

I'm glad to hear that you're doing everything you can to get your life back on track again. I hope that the individual(s) that caused this mess are found and put behind bars. Anyway, keep us informed on everything.

I'm mighty sorry this unpleasantness has occurred to you Lynnie. I know you're a thoroughly lovely person who likes to think the best of everybody so it pains me to think you've been done over by a person who probably doesn't care about anything but gratifying their own sordid desires over which they have no control. You'll be ok, love is all around you.

Aw, thank you so much for the kind words you guys! It does soften this blow a bit. It really does. ;)

Doing a bit better today. Work was blah, but it wasn't too bad I suppose. Got new locks and keys for both my apt and my mailbox. Whew! I withdrew some cash from my account and got some necessities to put in my purse. I cannot live without nail clippers or lotion! And I didn't want to "borrow" some from my apartment. So now my purse has its own. :) Along with some pens, a first aid kit, facial tissue, a mini sewing kit, some hand sanitizer and a few girly supplies. I'm still wanting to get a glasses repair kit and lip balm, among other non-necessary things that I just like to have on hand.

What I'm going through now seems to be the mourning period. I miss so many things that were in my purse, some of which I've had since high school. And there were a lot of pens and keychains, along with my wallet, mini sewing kit and pocket knife that I got while on one of the best vacations, which took place back in 1996, those are probably what I miss the most. Along with other things that I know I'll have a hard time finding again, if ever. Included were the Foster's cell phone charms, the Blooberry mints, a Foster's pen, a Foster's keychain. *sigh* At least my purse is entirely Foster's, so I don't feel too lonely without something from the show with me. And let's see, a whole bunch of pictures of family and friends, and Joey. Another drawing my sister did for me. My sunglasses. Some gel pens a friend gave me about 8 years ago. A drawing I did myself of my "dream wedding dress" a good 13 years ago. A bookmark. Two bottles of lotion. A glasses repair kit. A first aid kit. A hand mirror. A comb. A mini flashlight. An old name badge from work (in case I ever forgot my new one). Two different tins of breath mints. Three packs of gum. Hair accessories. A plastic fork. Ear plugs. Two nail clippers. ...I have no idea how many lip balms/glosses I had in there.

So yeah, most of it had some pretty deep sentimental value, and I miss them dearly. I'll never be able to really replace them. :bloosad:

And also, if any of you were ever wondering what exactly we girls carry in our purses, there ya go. :frankiesmile:

Nice to see you're bouncing back. Take all the time you need, the healing process is different for everybody. And rest assured, you'll no doubt find some new treasures to carry around with you at the Con this July. :frankiesmile:

Thank you Cass. I sure hope so. And I hope I have enough money to spend there. As of now my student loan should be paid off in either May or June, so I should be able to save a little pocket change during that last month or two.

Every day I do a little better. That's not to say I don't still get choked up when I remember my purse though. When I first got back to my apartment Monday night, I saw my old cell phone charger on my kitchen counter and my heart ached. The box for my old phone is still where I put it by my antique chest in my dining area. I can't even bring myself to look at it. :'( And yesterday I was craving something different to drink other than juice, tea, milk or water. I remembered I had a packet of cool aid I had gotten at work last week, and tried to remember where I put it. A moment later, it hit me like a ton of bricks- I had put it in my purse. Even these little things are reminding me how much I miss my purse. I seem to be obsessing about it, as I'm thinking about it every few seconds because something reminded me of it. :bloosad: It's all just in the healing process, I guess.

Like right now, I don't know if a neighbor ordered or made pizza, but I smell greasy pizza crust, tomato sauce and cheese. I'm so wanting to order in tonight, but I can't until I get a new debit card. Ah well, I don't need those calories anyway. I'll celebrate somehow when I get it, though. :)

Got my new license today! :yeah: Funny, they said "Allow up to 45 days", but I ordered it on Monday and three days later, here it is! Glad I have that back.

I also got the two keys I need for my side job. My keychain will never be the same, but it's starting to feel more normal with more than just three keys on it. :P I'm really missing my antique skeleton key. I may at some point try to find one on eBay. Hopefully I can wait 'till after July, though. ;)

It's taking me a while to get use to my new purse. As much as I love it, it's just so HUGE! I feel like I'm carrying around a grocery bag, and it's still kind of empty. It just feels weird. All my purses have been small, hand bag size. There was one I had for a few years that was basically just an oversized wallet. I'm just not use to such a big purse.

Oh, and I never mentioned on Monday that there was absolutely no fraudulent activity in my bank account before I closed it. So yay! I still really miss my purse, but I'm recovering. :)

Got a new little wallet today. Just a little cheap thing costing me a grand total of $5. My old one was a souvenir from Grand Teton National Park during that famed vacation in 1996. It was basically a leather coin purse, and just big enough to slip my license and a few other cards into. So I got another small coin purse with some card slots. It's bigger than my other one, but I like it. It's blue and perfectly matches the shade of Bloo on my purse. :bloosmirk: I looked at some glasses repair kits but, well, looks like I'm going to try somewhere else besides Target. They only had a fancy one, and I didn't have enough cash on me for it. I was just wanting a small basic one anyway. Maybe I'll try again at a drug store next week.

Another update if anyone's still reading this. I got my debit card today! :) My pin number will be coming in another day or two (they're sent separately for security purposes of course), and when it does I can activate it and feel like I have at least a little money again. Not wanting to spend much of course, but I think I'll celebrate by ordering in like I soooo felt like doing last week when I couldn't.

I also checked with my side job and transferring the automatic deposit to my new bank account. I had to fill out a new form and send in another voided check, but that too is taken care of. *face palm*- I did that right after doing my taxes today, and in my distraction I stamped, sealed and dropped the envelope into the mail box EMPTY!! ::) Thankfully I found the form later this evening still on my kitchen table. So I stuffed it into another envelope, restamped it, sealed it, and marched back up to the mailbox. What a waste of perfectly good postage. Heh, just an example of how I can be a ditz. :P

Eh, we all have moments like that. :cheesegrin: At least your life is returning to normal, which is definitely a good sign. :)

I found the empty envelope in my mailbox today. The mail carrier was pretty observant, and I appreciate that. ;) Don't know if I can peel the stamp off and use it again, but, I got it back. Now at least I won't have to be embarrassed at my employer getting two envelopes from me, one of them being empty. :P

Got the pin for my new debit card today. And my new checks and checkbook/wallet. I have nothing yet to put in it really (other than the new checks and a pen), but my purse doesn't feel so empty anymore. I'll activate my card tomorrow, which is perfect timing because I'll need to get gas tomorrow. I might stop for a bite to eat too. Instead of ordering in like I planned, I'll carry out. I won't have to order a certain dollar amount for delivery, so it'll be cheaper. :bloosmirk: