I think I've finally got a clue as to my issues, although I'm not sure what
to do to correct the problem.  I open a document through an Excel macro
(copied at the end of this post).  These docs were created through a Word
macro, although not otherwise created in Word; these docs are actually bits
of a longer plain-text database report which were copied into a new Word
instance and saved with a " .doc" extension.

Often I will copy text from one of these docs, open a new doc, and paste.
Then I will access my macros in Normal.dot and edit a macro to deal with
what I have pasted.  When I'm done, I usually copy and paste into a Word
document that was previously opened through Word.  When I go to close the
doc opened through Excel, I often get a "can't save Normal.dot" warning.

Now I'm wondering if editing the macro might have something to do with it
all.  I have a doc opened through Word referenced back to Normal.  Then I
create a new Word instance through Excel and open a doc; it, too, refers to
Normal (I believe).  If I edit a macro, I've changed Normal - but it looks
like one of the two Word instances can't handle that!  I seem to have
created a split personality in Normal.dot, and one doesn't recognize the
changes done in the other.

Am I on the right track?  Is there a way to prevent the split personality?
Is there a better way to do all of this?
Ed

(Excel macro)