The current task at hand.

So Daniel's mom has had this kitchen table for maybe a little over 30 years. There has been talk about getting her a new one - but Daniel was adamant about this one staying around. I'm sure there are a lot of memories surrounding this table; pumpkin carving, Christmas dinner, etc. And of course it looks 30 years old. The base is fine - just more the top. There are some stains and scratches along with many many years of fading. So basically half the table has no protection on it. I have taken it upon myself [what was I thinking] to semi restore the table.
I borrowed my dad's hand sander - bought some nice shiny coat stuff and some extra coarse sand paper pads. Sigh - this table is taking forever. There are so may deep stains in it - plus the fact that the drill sucks all the power from the battery. That means I can only sand it 20-30 mins at a time - then let the battery recharge for several hours. Blah.
I'm [hopefully] down to the last sanding. I'm waiting for the battery to charge - then slapping on a new sand paper pad - then one last sand.
There has been debate - between Daniel and myself - do we stain it - or clear coat it? The table was originally semi dark - like a chestnut color. The base is still the chestnut - but the top was light light light. The debating stems from the kitchen chairs - she bought light ones. He thinks the table top should match the chairs. I think it should match the base. So we shall see. Maybe a light coat of stain - then clear coat it. I dunno - we'll see when I'm FINALLY done sanding.
Hopefully she doesn't have plans to get rid of it. That would suck :(