The common understanding of time between earthly death & resurrection is what is known as the Intermediate State. This is usually defined as a time of Conscious Existence, where a believer is (soulfully yet bodilessly) in Heaven with God, and non-believers are in hell. This is a state that is to be temporary, until the time of the final judgement, when earthly bodies are resurrected ('caught up in the air'). During this time, the soul is in conscious state of existence--aware of where one is, be it Heaven or hell.
Perhaps this idea of Intermediate state and conscious existence is where the traditionally Roman Catholic doctrine of Purgatory finds its origins. Purgatory is spoken of as being a place where one goes to wait until they are sent to their final destination of Heaven or hell. Believers who are left on earth are supposed to 'pray for the souls' of those who have died. (I have a family member who recalls that a colleague at work, upon hearing of the assassination of President Kennedy, declared 'We must pray him out of purgatory!" Her other colleague leaned over and said "What good will that do him now? He's already made it to wherever he's going, too little too late!"
The problem with the concept of purgatory is that (not only is it not orthodox) but it puts the onus of determining where the deceased spends eternity on the merits of someone else! Our admittance or denial of entry into heaven is to be based solely on our personal relationship with God, and not based on the level of involvement or 'hard enoguh praying' of those who are left behind on earth after we have died. If we can't make it into heaven on our own, and of our own goodness, why should we believe that we are reliant on the ability of others to 'pray us in'?