Default Font Settings

[Mark W]

I recently upgraded from Word 2003 to Word 10. I seem to have to change my font, font size, Paragraph spacing default every time I start Word 10. I have tried several ways to change the default settings but every time I close and then open Word 10 the original Word 10 settings are reapplied. How do I select the settings I want and save them so they are the default at start up?

Thank you in advance,

Mark