Naughty Marvin

It's taken me all of the last year to come to terms with the word naughty referring to things unrelated to porn or other adult material. In Australia, parents and teachers constantly use the word naughty in a reprimading, though somewhat endearing way (similar to the use of "cheeky"). These days when my husband calls me a "naughty girl", I'm not sure if he's trying to score some sugar, or actually just thinks I'm "not acting nice".

One morning I noticed paw prints on my windshield. I assumed there must be a rodent or possum in my garage and kept my fingers crossed that our new friend was not actually inside my car.

That afternoon there was a woman in our driveway, she asked if we'd seen a gray cat. Hell yeah girlfriend, we've seen him. He's one of those gray/ blue short hairs that I've always liked, and he's been lurking around our house since the week we moved (a year ago). Having him around has been like having a very low maintenance pet, who only stops by every couple weeks to check in.

She told me that it's actually her neighbor's cat, his name is Marvin, and they hadn't seen him in a few days. I took her contact info, then as soon as she left, I remembered the paw prints on my windshield (duh) and that directly above my windshield is an open attic door.

A year earlier during our move-in-mayhem, the police had told us Jeremy hid out in that attic when he was in trouble. We've never looked to see what was up there, though I'm guessing we'd find a stash of crack or heroin... or maybe there's cash? Or prescription pain-killers? Maybe it is worth a little lookie.

I went into the garage, looked up, and there was poor little Marvin. My three year old and I headed to Marvin's Mama's house. After some awkward, yet skillful Twister-esque moves she was able to get Marvin to jump onto a pool noodle and lower him to safety.

Marvin's Mama thanked us and went on to tell us that "Marvin is a very naughty cat". My three year old thought that was the funniest thing he'd ever heard. Of course I did too, because anytime I hear the word naughty my mind goes straight for the gutter.

Marvin has now been stuck in my attic three times. Maybe he found Jeremy's crack cocaine and he can't stop coming back for more. Come to think of it, his eyes were pretty bloodshot and I think he was drooling last time he was "rescued". He really is a naughty cat.


That's Naughty Marvin peeking at us.


This is sometimes naughty, though mostly nice, three year old doing his Marvin impersonation.