I had fun at Sang's birthday tonight. Got to see Navin, Sang's boyfriend and his son Aaron for the first time, both of Sang's roommates, Amanda and Carolyn, and many of her friends, from church and small groups. I first met Carolyn at Taylor and Henry's wedding last November but I only met Amanda for the first time today.

Texas has become such a strong Republican state that basically, if you win the Republican primary in March, you win the statewide office in November. This is only sure for statewide office, not in certain county like Travis or Harris or Dallas County for that matter. Thus, you see more and more battles are being fought among Republicans in the primary. Let's try to keep track of who is running for what:

1. State Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn (Rylander), mother of White House spokeman Scott McClellan, is running against incumbent governor Rick Perry.

2. State Agriculture Commissioner Susan Combs is running for the seat vacated by the loud mouth grandma State Comptroller.

3. State senator Todd Staples (SD3) is running for the seat vacated by Susan Combs.

4. State representative Terry Keel (LD47) is running against Charles Holcolm for place 8 on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.