Diamond Jam!

"Look out, Kat's got a case of latex fever - she got bit by the latex bug!!"

I am so ballooned out!  Last week, Dan, James, and I all drove down to So. Cal to attend two balloon conferences, Diamond Jam and Balloon Camp.  We were also invited to perform for Balloon Camp, so it wasn't just a vacation - it was a working one!  (Although, I bet my work conferences are a lot more fun than most people's work conferences...!)

Our week started out with Diamond Jam - a primarily twisters conference.  This was my first twisters convention and boy - talk about being inspired!!  I was lucky enough to be able to take classes from some of the world's best twisters, including from Ed Chee, Rie Hosokai, Ori Livney, Ralph Dewey, and Robbie Furman (just to name a few!!!).  I also got to jam with some of the best, as well as make a lot of new friends! 
 

I think James made even more friends than me and Dan combined - he was such a hit among the balloon artists!  So much, in fact, that at one point, people started to ask "where is my baby?"  He tried his best to make as many appearances as possible, but unfortunately he did have to sleep, and sometimes the smoke in the casino got so bad that he had to retire to the hotel room for the evening.  I found out from Dan that sometimes he would try to caffiene himself up to stay awake.  Too bad he couldn't open the can...

Because it was my first balloon convention, I decided not to enter any major competitions just so I could see what these competitions are like.  I did, however, enter a few minor competitions, and actually won 2nd place in a Halloween twister competition, and 1st place in a 40 minute endurance competition (you have to use three of every type of balloon in the jam room, including 160s, 260s, 350s, geos, hearts, 640s..etc and create it into a wearable hat).  I think next year I'll enter into the "big boy" leagues!