"Would you like to join my party?"

I was out for a week before I needed a game. I went where I used to go, only to discover they moved the building. It was in the same parking lot, but not where I was expecting. I didn't really notice a lot of additional space, just a different setup.
They had -no- game postings.
none.
and their RPG section looked like it was being stripped out.
It was.
And they close at 8pm on Saturday night. wtf? What gaming store closes at 8pm on a Saturday? Bard's Quest did it right. Open 'till midnight on Friday and Saturday nights.
So on to the next one.
A better faire, they had two 5e games going, so I dropped into that one at the end of the first episode of Horde of the Dragon Queen.
But one is not enough, and playing is insufficient when you've been running almost every day for 5 long years.
on to craigslist.
I found two posts for lfg, and contacted them both. Now we have a game, because the first person has friends.
I have five players for a Level 1 homebrew 3.5 campaign (the books I still have laying around), and I am happy.
I have five players that have NEVER played before.
That might take some thought. Where do you start? There are so many small changes, borrowings, house rules... what do you teach new players?
I decided to stick to the base rules. no house rules, just right out of the book. That way they can learn the correct way to play and there won't be confusion, because we can just look it up if there's a question.
Tonite is the first game: my players are ready, my story is ready, and it will be great.
Wish me luck.