Checking in from out of town

After reading, I hope you get the double entendre of this pic

I'm posting this because I think it will bring a quick smile to our professor Heil's face. I left sunny San Diego on Thursday immediately after my final class of the semester. I was home bound for the first time in over half a year. My students' final papers were graded, my final papers and assignment were turned in and I was free!...So what am I doing here? Well it's actually not even the first time I've checked in since coming home. First I wanted to show off my blog and cookbook to my dad. We had a long discussion on how I could bling up the new website on teaching Arabic students that I plan to create after I finish my Master's thesis. This is not part of the project, I'm doing it because I want to share what I'm learning. I've found myself periodically checking in on  my classmates' blogs as well. I'm anxious to see everyone's final reflection projects! I've also been checking in with my ESL twitter peeps...just because I want to. And I guess therein, is the point of this post. I am no longer checking in, posting and generally participating in the cyber world because it's part of a class, a grade, an obligation. I'm doing it because I want to. Because I have found myself intrinsically motivated to keep on keepin' on. When I went to show my dad my blog and cookbook, I wasn't logged in to my bookmarks so I simply googled myself. And guess what? I was the top 3 results! And that's when it hit me--I'm no longer a visitor, I'm a bonafide resident! Man, it feels good to be home.