The green, green grass of home

I have been back at work for around a week, after having a staycation of nearly two weeks. I'm still at the stage of my career where I cannot store up my annual leave to take it all in one go. The longest time I can take is one week plus any extras I get if I'm on duty on public holidays.

Did I use my time creatively? Of course not. I spent most of my time festering at home, going on the Internet and sleeping. I was not productive, which meant I was not reading any books, studying any medical material or preparing for the two presentations I had to give when I returned to work. I give two reasons / excuses for staying at home.

1. My dad was away on a conference in Northern China, leaving my mum to take care for the two dogs we have. Naturally being a loving son, I had to stay at home to keep an eye on our two adorable mutts.

2. Since late April, the decorators have been disassembling our house to renovate certain portions. The smaller bedroom, the living room and the garage are getting a new look, meaning most of the furniture and items within those three rooms have been shoved into the two remaining bedrooms of the house. My bedroom looks like it belongs to an obsessive-compulsive patient, as most of the open space is occupied by small cupboards, dining chairs and storage units.

I will be thankful when the decorators leave. Not only is it tiresome having to wear slippers all around the house since most of the floor is carpeted with a thin layer of plaster dust, like a really sick version of an indoor Christmas, but I really don't like having all these items in my room. I do miss my open space, and so do my dogs since they have less floor to lie on.

I do miss the open space, which is a reason why I live out in the suburbs. It's also a reason why I don't go out that often. I don't really like the crowds of Hong Kong. All that jostling and pushing in the streets leads me to yearn for large pastures and wide fields.

Now I'm not only counting the number of on-calls I have left (five including the one I'm on now), I'm waiting for the decorators to leave so I can finally have my room to myself instead of sharing it with my parent's ornamental furniture.