So Carl and Jeff,
Here is the new kit. I have it running into one of our pa heads and I am pretty happy with the sound. My son has an acoustic kit and they definitely carry the cool factor, but for my purposes, e drums are the right thing - right now.
I will be looking into those suggestions you both provided but that will be later on. Goal 1 is to incorporate drum learning into my daily practice routine and become smooth enough on a simple pattern to record that song for my wife.
Good luck with your purchase Jeff and thanks again to both of you for the input.
This year the diet is definitely gonna stick!