I guess I'm okay with that, but, I'm not going to need to have an active internet connection to play Skyrim once it is downloaded do I? Because I don't have internet at home, normally.
What is with all this funny business where game discs only contain downloaders now days anyways?
You'll just need to connect to Steam to activate your copy of Skyrim and download any updates. Once you've done that, you can play the game in offline mode. However, if any future patches are released, or if you decide to buy any of the DLC, you'll need to reconnect to Steam to download and install those.