Weekly Recap: Turn the Rope and JUMP (Nov 30–Dec 6, 2025)
Every week I look back at my journal entries to see what they reveal. This week, from November 30 to December 6, reminded me that midlife reinvention doesn't always look dramatic. Sometimes it looks like finishing a semester. Sometimes it looks like realizing you're closer to a goal than you thought.
And sometimes, apparently, it looks like walking into a piercing shop on a random weeknight.
Welcome to my life. Happy Wednesday, waffles, on a Saturday. Here's the honest breakdown.
The Vibe: How This Week Felt
Proud, a little impulsive, and lighter than I expected. I came off a full Thanksgiving, did something I swore I'd never do, and then finally faced the numbers I'd been dodging. They were on my side. Under all of it is real excitement: I'm one semester away from finishing this degree, and I'm starting to ask what I actually want next.
Top Wins This Week
1. I got the nose piercing I swore I'd never get.
This was not a year-long plan. I didn't make a vision board about it. My son got his ear pierced and mentioned wanting his nose done, and the idea planted itself. A few days later, I was scrolling piercers on Instagram. The popular one had a month-long wait, and I just don't do waiting for certain things. So after my full-time job and my per diem case, I saw a shop near me in Bay Ridge that was open until 9, and I said: I'm doing it.
And I did. It was done with a needle, and it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought.
The funniest part? Nobody noticed. I held off on recording so the boys wouldn't overhear, and waited to see who'd catch it first. My youngest notices everything. My oldest I texted before I even went. I got up in their faces, talked right at them, and nothing. I finally had to ask, "Y'all see it?" I picked a stud small enough that you really can't see it, and apparently it worked a little too well.
2. I wasn't behind. I was at 312 hours.
My mental health counseling internship requires 300 hours in 15 weeks. After a supervisor change at work, I hadn't been logging consistently. So when the school emailed asking where I stood, I didn't answer right away. I assumed I was behind and was already preparing myself to take an incomplete.
Then I finally sat down and calculated everything.
312 hours.
I wasn't behind. I was already over the requirement.
And that was a moment. Because when you're busy doing the work, you don't always see how much work you've done. I'd been showing up: counseling sessions, case management, learning, second-guessing myself, getting comfortable with clients, managing my regular responsibilities while becoming a clinician. And somewhere in all of that, the hours added up.
It also means I get my break, and after carrying therapy and case management at the same time, I need it.
3. I kept my Thanksgiving tradition, even when everybody dropped out.
Last week I said I'd go to the Macy's parade by myself if I had to. I went. It was packed and freezing; I forgot my gloves, they wouldn't let us off at my planned stop, and I ended up walking back to 49th Street anyway. I still had a good time and almost fell trying to get the perfect shot. Then I spent Thanksgiving with my brother and his extended family, and stretched my own cooking across the week.
Small wins count. Progress is progress.
Growth Edge: Where I'm Stretching
What to improve:
I missed the CPCE by five points in September, and I'm retaking it in January. I hope my school gets the certification that would let me skip it, but hope isn't a plan. So I'm picking my test date and putting study blocks on the calendar now, while the break is still ahead of me.
And next time an email asks where I stand, I'll answer it that week. Avoiding it cost me days of stress over a problem I didn't even have.
What I might be missing about myself:
I know this about me: I can be impulsive. I'm a plunger. Sometimes I plunge first and think later.
Has that always served me well? Absolutely not. But my willingness to move has also carried me through a lot. What's changed isn't my personality. It's my ability to recognize my patterns, to know when my instinct to move fast will help me and when I need to tell myself, Bernadette, sit with this one.
And here's what I almost missed: the same week I plunged into a piercing, I was carefully weighing a career change, comparing a path that pays more against one that might fit better for less money. I even turned down one opportunity because I already know where I'm headed. That's not impulsive. That's deliberate.
So the question I'm sitting with is this: how often do I assume I'm behind when I'm actually ahead?
Quote to Remember
"Don't confuse not being finished with not making progress."
This stuck because I'm not where I'm ultimately going yet, but 312 hours and one semester left, say I am absolutely on my way.
Content Sparks: Ideas Worth Sharing
Video: "I Got the Piercing I Swore I'd Never Get… and My Kids Didn't Notice." A funny look at impulse decisions, the things we swear we'd never do, and being invisible to your own children.
Blog post: "Calculate Your Hours." We spend so much time counting what we haven't done that we forget to add up what we have. A reflection prompt for readers to take stock of what they've survived, learned, and changed.
Social post: "I Missed It by Five Points." Failing the CPCE, retaking it in January, and why coming up short isn't the same as being out of the game.
Mantra for Next Week
"Calculate your hours before you count yourself out."
Before I decide I'm behind on anything- the CPCE, my career, my life- I'm going to look at the actual evidence first.
🎤 J.U.M.P. Mic Drop: Journey of the Underdog Making Progress
Think about a jump rope. Once it starts turning, there's an expectation of action. You can know the technique, study the rhythm, and prepare all day, but eventually you have to jump.
In September, I missed a major exam by five points. This week, I found out I'm over my internship hours and one semester away from graduating in May. J.U.M.P. stands for the Journey of the Underdog MAKING Progress, and making is the action word.
The rope is turning. I'm jumping.
J.U.M.P. out. 🎤
Ready to Make Your Own Jump?
Queen, take a minute and calculate your own hours. Not literally. Look at your life. Look at what you've survived, the boundaries you're finally setting, and the things that used to scare you that you do regularly now. Ask yourself what you want now, not what you wanted at 25 or what everyone else expects. You might be further along than you think.
That's what Jumping The Rope: Move Yourself and Manifest Your Success is about: designing the life you keep dreaming about, even while you're still under construction yourself. Movement matters. Not reckless movement, and not pretending fear doesn't exist, but refusing to stay stuck just because you don't have every detail figured out.
Get your copy: http://bit.ly/jumpingtherope
What was your biggest win this week? Drop it in the comments, waffles. And if you already know what your next move needs to be, maybe it's time to turn the rope. Grab Jumping The Rope at the link above, and subscribe for next week's J.U.M.P. check-in.
P.S. I'm working on a project I can't share yet. Some of y'all have an idea from the request I posted. The process is in motion, and I'll keep you posted. 👀
Peace out. 💛
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