Hey Mr. J, welcome to the forum!
First of all, holy crap, man.. I'm in Ottawa too (and I'm 53, how's that for two coincidences right off the bat?!?)
Good for you, taking up the drums is an amazing hobby and way to have an outlet.. you are now a musician, just need to keep at it and most of all enjoy it, however way you get that done.
I've included a few "acoustic" extras in my ekits from time to time.. not the hi-hats, but I did add two splash cymbals and a cowbell. Mind you, I only hit them if I was playing through speakers so they'd fit in.. not through headphones. But if you can hear your Zildjian hats and the level is ok, that's great.. do you have anyone in the house or neighbours who'll be annoyed hearing just the hi-hat and some tapping?
I would take some time at some point and try to get your stock hi-hat setup working, it may have needed some more adjustment/calibration. There's lots of discussion on here about that topic.. do a search from the menu dropdown (not the Google search up in the top right).