You Can’t Spell Christmas Without RT. Constructing The Gingerbread ‘House’-cyon.

Christmas has got to be one of THE best holidays of the year – well, at least for my sister and I. Apart from it being the festive season, our family also celebrates a string of birthdays! One of the best parts for me is that I get to wake my sister up everyyy Christmas morning!

“WAKE UP SISTER! IT’S TIME TO WAKE UP! IT’S CHRISTMASSS!!!“

– Me yelling into my (younger) sister’s ear every Christmas morning

As the years go by, this ritual has gone on beyond childhood. Thank you, technology!

Apart from celebrating my sister’s birthday and the joy of opening presents, we ALWAYS look forward to Dad’s Christmas Breakfast! Every year on Christmas morning, dad would make a meal so exquisite (not to mention delicious!), that the family all looks forward to!

So my birthday comes right after Christmas. And I thought, this year, I wanted to have something truly special for my birthday cake. For those of you who have been following me or my blog, you will know that I am passionate about my profession as a Radiation Therapist. Now, wouldn’t it be cool if I could have a cake looking like the linear accelerators (LINAC) that I work with?!

I went around hunting for professional bakers to see if they could make me a special ‘O’ ring LINAC cake this year.

To my dismay, none of the bakers could fulfill the request; some said it looked too complex and one suggested I make do with a sugar fondant cake topper instead. No, thank you!

So, I decided to take matters into my own hands. I was determined to make my own ‘O’ ring LINAC – out of GINGERBREAD! I pitched the idea to the husband, and he, being the creative one between the two of us, was initially apprehensive but thought it would be a fun weekend project. We set off to IKEA for a DIY Gingerbread House Kit and some bits and bobs for the monumental task!

We were blessed with a nice, chilly weekend. We had Spotify on in the background playing our favorite Christmas jingles, and some cameras set up to capture the time lapse of our work.

It was fun, really! I think the best parts were us figuring out how to get the pieces cut out to the shapes matching the LINAC we wanted to construct. Since the gingerbread came pre-baked as a house, we had to slowly saw away at the pieces to re-shape them, being careful not to break any in the process!

It took us approximately 3 hours from start to finish. Talk about lightspeed installation! (Engineers, if you are reading this…rest assured I am truly grateful for all your blood, sweat and tears in helping us get the LINAC up and running for our clinical Go Live!).

Was it easy? Well, I guess it was worth the challenge. We ended up with greasy fingers, baking glue on everything we touched, and the house smelling like gingerbread. Most of all, it was just nice to enjoy some creative work and the final outcome was definitely worth it.

Yes, yes, I know you are probably excited to see the fruits of our labour. So at last, we present to you the making of our Gingerbread House-cyon! (turn on your audio)

Christmas this year may be a little bit different for all of us. Being separated from our family and friends, and the lack of large gatherings and drinking parties has become the new norm. Even so, let’s make do with what we have, celebrate our health, appreciate the year thus far and continue to be optimistic for what may come in 2021. Celebrate the joy of giving, being kind, and spreading the love to our family, friends, patients, colleagues and whomever who may cross our path.

Wishing you a splendid and joyous Christmas!