Hi Bob, the normal template is usually empty (it holds all of your default formatting) - you can make any adjustments with the formatting - change the default fault (I always have liked Ariel), margins (I don't know why they set the default margins to 1.25), and the spacing between paragraphs. Open your normal.dot - make any formatting changes you need, then close it. Exit out of Word and when you come back in any formatting changes you made should hold for any new document you create.

Hope this helps!