Selection Issues with Word 2007.

I have a template created by others in my company. It's full of numbered lists and sub items. I want to change the font color in a portion of the document to indicate that it is not applicable.

I can highlight the text, but whether the numbers get highlighted and the font color changed is unpredictable. Sometimes they do, sometimes not.

I've tried turning off various Smart Select options, but nothing does the trick. I can select the text, but not the numbers in some cases, and in others, the numbers are automatically selected and the formatting changed along with the list items.

I'd prefer to format numbering, but is if was consistent, I could deal with either one.