How terrifying MsMaven! So glad no one was hurt and nothing was more damaged than it was. Sending hugs!

Oh no Ms Maven! I am so sorry this happened to you. I am so glad you are all right. It is the most horrible feeling of violation to have this happen and your precious items stolen. I am so glad that you are safe. I hope that they find the burglars and get some of your things back. Have you called to change all your credit cards and account numbers and reported this to Experian or other credit bureaus? They can put a freeze on your credit to prevent others from opening new accounts in your name.

We've had some scary experiences too. Once about 10 years ago when we were living in the city, once someone broke into our condo at 4 am while we were sleeping. I woke up when he came into our bedroom. Fortunately he ran off right away without taking anything, but I was so worried about what could have happened if he was armed or I was alone and he wanted to hurt me.

We moved out of the city and were glad we were moving into a safer neigborhood. But then about six years ago, we were away for the weekend and got a call from the police that someone had broken into our house. They kicked in our locked door, took our TV and stereo equipment (old and not worth much), but they also took our desktop computer, laptop and hard drive from our office (we had just finished backing up our computer but the hard drive was still connected). They were apparently also in and out in 5 minutes according to the police, because it happened in about a half hour interval in between the pet sitter coming to our house and the UPS driver coming to deliver a package 1/2 hr later (he called the police when he noticed the door open and broken). They did eventually catch the burglars (who were in some sort of professional burglary ring had apparently done this to many many houses) and called us to come look for our stuff. There was a whole warehouse storage room filled with stuff. We did get the hard drive back but unfortunately it was wiped clean and the software person they recommended to try to retrieve the data only screwed it up further. So we lost a bunch of pics. I didn't care about the TV or replacing the door but was so sad about losing the data. Fortunately we had backed some up onto CD's, so we only lost about 1 year's worth of pics. This was pre-kids--I was so sad to lose the pictures of us, but would have been even more mad if I had lost pics of the kids.

Then a month or so later I got a notice that someone tried to open a cell phone in my name. They must have somehow gotten my personal info off my computer. Fortunately since I had put the credit freeze on my name, the application was blocked. But the 3 month temporary freeze was extended to 7 years, so every time I want to open credit or get a loan I have to call in to verify my identity first.

So the moral of my story is 1) make sure you protect yourself from identity theft after a burglary
2) back up your computer often and store it off site (right now we keep backup hard drives in a safe deposit box, but I should really look into those automatic online backup programs).
3) crime happens no matter where you live, even if it's supposedly safe (these people came over to our area from a not-so-nice area across the bridge), so always be aware & take precautions no matter where you live. Now we have an alarm system with motion sensors etc. (your story reminds me that we should use it all the time--we've been lax lately).

Hugs MM and sorry again for the loss of your things, hope you can recover them someday and that karma catches up with those evil thieves! Glad you are safe.

I am so sorry that this happened to you. I just don't understand why people do this.

That's horrible.

Oh my, I am so sorry to hear this happened to you, how scary. I cant understand people I swear. Thankfully you and the fam were not injured, physically. anyway Sending you hugs!! hang in there!!

Oh, no! I'm so sorry this happened - how scary!

Do you have pictures of any of your jewelry? I wonder if it would be possible to notify some area pawn shops and such in case someone tries to sell your things? The sentimental items are the worst, since the burglar may not even get them to someone who will love and care for them.

Sometimes people just make me sick. I am so sorry this happened to you. Why the police would issue such a stupid statement is beyond me - couldn't they foresee the consequences?!

Goldenpig--as far as we can tell no credit cards were taken. We've had problems in the past and most of our card companies have been right on it. We're watching for ID theft.

The police told us that the 3 pawn shops in town are watched carefully for stolen goods, which tells me the thieves probably sent it somewhere else far away.

We do have photos of many pieces--up until about 5 years ago. We do have photos of some of the unique pieces. We haven't gotten around to taking photos in the last few years though. I have kept receipts on almost everything I have ever bought. Two of my watches have serial numbers and I have the serial number of the safe, should it ever turn up.

The repairman who fixed our window told us that there is a ring operating out of a near-by city that use this modus operandi.

We take a class one night a week and suspect the burglars had been watching our house. We live near a park and have lots of people not from our neighborhood coming and going. I think they knew we wouldn't be home that evening. We have lights turn on automatically inside and out and the burglars went around and turned off all of the inside lights.

I learned it's important to watch for unusual signs as you approach your house. I didn't even notice the lights were out, but I did notice the cats were acting strange when we came in. We didn't go into the bedroom--DH went into his office and called out to ask if there'd been an earthquake. That's when I went into the bedroom and saw the door.

We were up until 2 am cleaning up, and to make matters worse, woke up at 5. DH was having all four wisdom teeth extracted first thing in the morning. Fortunately that went well.

MsMaven, I'm so sorry to hear about your theft and it feels like a rape of your home, to say it bluntly. It's good to hear that you have a resilient nature and your cats are safe. It's particularly hard to lose keepsakes, like the ones you mentioned with your relatives and the letters and watches and specially-redesigned jewelry that has great significance to you.

We have a security system and I use it all the time. Taking photocopies of items in your wallet and a video of your possessions is also a good thing to do every so often. I hope some of your possessions come home to you and that the burglars are caught and may some day become better human beings.

We've had a rash of break-ins in our town (two in our neighborhood) fortunately they caught the young boys doing it by neighborhood watch and reporting suspicious behavior.

So sorry you had to suffer this, I know usually it is harder emotionally then the actual financial cost.

Oh, how frightening and sad! I have experienced a burglary and it's a terrible feeling.

One feels so victimized and violated. I am SO sorry. (((HUGS))).

That is horrible! So sorry to hear this and sending big hugs.

Gosh, I am so very, very sorry.

My doggie says he can round up some of his buddies and that they'll hang out on your front porch for a few days until you feel better and safer. They've promised not to bother the kitties, and will scare off any and all bad guys, including the mail man.

I'm just being silly, (hoping to cheer you just a tiny bit with these goofy pictures) - and wanted to let you know you're in our thoughts and here's hoping you heal from this soon.

Ms. Maven, I'm so sorry. I think when police depts. announce cutbacks, thieves take it as open season to do their thing since the cops will only have resources to investigate violent crime or will come out when the crime is actually in progress. DD's room always looks vandalized, so I'm hoping that if anyone tries to break in, he will assume he is are too late and will give up because it is so dangerous to make it across her room. That being said, a guy broke down our door in the daytime a couple of Decembers ago. I was at work, but DD was home sick, and DH was sleeping because he works at night. Luckily, DH woke up and scared the guy out; don't know what I would have done if it were only my teen at home.

Lesson: Esp. around the holidays and doorbell rings, let them know you are home. It may be a test. You can always show yourself in the window and pretend you are on your cell phone, then try to take a picture of them. Of course, this won't work for your basic drive-by.

Ms M, I know how scary it is, and how voilated we feel. All the items in my Great grandmothers home was stolen.... they didn't leave anything behind. It was such a difficult time for us.

I am so sorry you have to face this.

I'm so very sorry to read this. Even aside from the monetary losses, the loss of sentimental possessions that are invaluable and irreplacable must be devastating.

OMG this is so so scary, and deel so sorry for you!Hugs!